Akuma no Yona Sekai
by SkyyeStrike
Summary: Team seven has failed and died at the hands of a stranger. But they have been given another chance and dumped into a new world, this time, with their memories intact. SasufemNaru
1. Proulouge: Owari

**NEW STORY. I came up with this on the spur of the moment, and i can tell right now, there will not be many light or happy parts here. This is going to be a darker story. It will also not stay in Sakura POV forever. actually, this may be the only part where it is, because i hate her with a burning passion.**

**Haven't decided on a name for 'the man' yet, but it has to have meaning. I'm open to suggestions XDD**

**BTW, this title is translated from japanese as 'Demon World.' You'll understand why next chapter.**

**And no, they will not be coming to the real world. It will be another world i've made up XD.**

**enjoy!**

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Sakura gasped, blood bubbling from her mouth and down her cheeks as her eyesight grew dim. She was… dying? Her head turned slightly to where she could see Naruto, propped up against a nearby wall, his head lagging to the side and his bright gold hair coloring his eyes. His shirt was ripped open and showed four huge gashes, all of them seeping blood, dark bruises surrounding his neck where he had been choked.

Sakura turned her head the other day, feeling more blood bubble up from her mouth as a result of the kunai in her chest. She knew she didn't have long, but if she could find Sasuke and heal him… Maybe he could save them all. Naruto was too far gone. He would be dead in a matter of minutes.

Sakura gasped as she caught sight of ebony eyes, staring blankly at her face, slightly misted over. Sakura fought down a sob as she saw a long slash across Sasuke's throat, not deep enough to instantly kill him, but deep enough to be fatal, and so that he would die a long slow death.

A foot landed in front of Sakura's face, making her jolt and cough more blood. He was back. Sakura's eyes closed. She hoped that he would finish them all off soon. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.

"You all failed." A deep voice said, rumbling and reverberating in Sakura's ears. She didn't say anything, but she heard Naruto's breath hitch and a growl from Sasuke's throat. The boot nudged Sakura's forehead. "Don't ignore me. I know you're all alive."

"I have a proposal to give you." The voice said. There was a rustling of cloth and clicks of rocks. Her eyes opened and she saw the man bending down and rolling Sasuke's body over so he faced the sky. His face was screwed up in pain and Sakura whimpered at the pool of blood on the ground that was left behind. "You have failed in this world, as you failed in the last, and in the one before. And as I have told you before, I will not let any of you rest until you finally beat me." Sakura saw him step over her.

"Face up, girly." He grunted. It didn't sound like an order, but Sakura felt as if she was compelled to face forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man grab the collar of Naruto's jacket. Naruto cried out in pain, his breath becoming more labored and ragged as he was dropped into a lying position next to Sakura.

"So, in this next life, I'm going to give you back your memories. Not from the last lifetimes. Those are gone forever." He said. He nudged Sasuke's now limp body closer to Sakura until she could feel his fading body heat against her arm. "But you can keep the ones from this lifetime."

"No one will notice if a few more extra's show up in their world. But when you wake up, it will be your job to survive." He continued. He was dropping something red onto Naruto's forehead. Probably blood, Sakura reasoned. She saw Naruto's face begin to relax. "And when you figure out the rest of what your supposed to do, find me." The red stuff was being dropped onto Sakura's head and she began to feel her mind slowing and her eyesight disappearing faster than before. Her whole body was growing numb. "Find me, and kill me." The man moved to Sasuke, dropping it onto his forehead and staying still as he looked at all three of them. The three original members of team seven. Dying at his feet.

The last thing Sakura heard was the man's fading voice said was: "Welcome to the Demon's world."

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**And... that was it. This is really just a prolouge. I was gonna say something else here, but then i forgot. I'll try to keep this one up as best as possible. I'm still at a road block for my other story 'What to Say', but i'm really focusing on 'Photographs' and 'Our Street of Gold' and i'm hoping to have new chapters for those and this one sometime before the end of the week.**

**review please and tell me what you think! XD**

**And while your at it, look up 'Blue Stahli- Corner (the luna sequence)' on youtube. I downloaded it and listened to it the entire time i was writing this (on repeat)**

**3**


	2. Konran

Sasuke groaned, rubbing his head as he blinked his eyes open. Everything seemed over-bright, every color glaring at him with annoying intensity. Sasuke reached a hand up, putting against the side of his head to steady himself as sat up slowly.

"Get the doctor. He's awake." Feminine voice, soft with an undertone of timidness that signaled an intrusive personality. Sasuke swallowed around his tongue, lying thick in his mouth, trying to clear his somewhat traumatized vision. Suddenly, a brunette head was in Sasuke's line of vision, peering at him with wide, caramel brown eyes. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" Sasuke opened his mouth and uttered an unintelligible croak. She was clicking her fingers right next to his ear and Sasuke winced at the startling loudness of it. He blinked and cleared his throat.

"Yes."

"Can you see me clearly?" She asked him. Her voice was sweet and clear, with soft undertones that rang warmly in Sasuke's ears. Somehow, everything seemed to be too loud though, making his already aching head hurt more than it should.

Sasuke looked up at her. She was slightly fuzzy around the edges, but the brightness had lessened and her form was coming into view. He cleared his throat, deperatly wanting a drink of water, but not quite sure if it was safe. He couldn't tell which country he was in, much less which hospital. "Yes." He said after a second. A relieved look crossed her face.

"That's good to hear. Do you know where you are?"

Sasuke nearly smirked. It was almost as if she'd read his mind. "No." It didn't seem like a Fire Country hospital. Too... white .

She blinked, surprised at his plain answer. "You're at Kurai Botan (1) Hospital. You're friends are in the rooms across the hall." She said with a small smile. As she came into even clearer focus, Sasuke noticed a pair of petite wire-framed glasses perched on her small nose. He glanced around the room, taking everything into account. Definitely not a Fire country hospital.

Bright white lights were placed in the ceiling, the room painted a soft white color and the floor covered in red and cream tiles in intricate patterns. He was dressed only in his pair of black slacks, a hole still ripped in the thigh from his fight. The fabric looked strange against the stark white hospital sheets. There were bandages on his arms and one across his stomach, surrounded by blue and purple bruises. Across the room, folded on a chair were his shredded shirt and jounin jacket. The color of both was caked with dried, flaking blood. Suddenly, Sasuke touched his neck, feeling a thick bandage where a deep cut should have been.

Had… had that all been a dream?

Sasuke turned back to the woman, mouth open to ask her, but choked, the words freezing themselves in his throat. She had turned away and was scribbling on a clipboard, her chestnut hair falling over her forehead and cheeks. Sasuke's voice came out as a very undignified squeak (It had been the bed dammit. Uchiha's don't squeak). The woman looked up at him and gave him a kind but slightly concerned look.

"Is something wrong, sir?" She asked.

"Are those… Are those ears?" He asked quietly.

The woman stared at him before bursting into laughter. "What? You've never seen a mouse anima before?" She asked. She tugged on one, circular brown ear the sat atop her head. A small, sparkling pink jewel was pierced near the base of it. Sasuke stared disbelieving at it.

Seeing no change in Sasuke's expression, the woman's laughter died in her throat. "Are you okay?" She asked, worry flooding her face once again. Her clipboard went slack as Sasuke's face drained of all color and she began to step towards him when the door opened.

"How is the patient?" A man with graying salt and pepper hair said, a toothy grin on his features. On top of his head were two, pointed and triangular black ears, similar, but different from those on the nurse. Sasuke felt himself nearly stop breathing as he caught sight of a black, ruffled tail wagging slowly from side to side.

Sasuke stood up, ignoring the protests of both the doctor and the nurse, and walked over to a one-way mirror on a wall, already reaching towards his head and not caring who was on the other side. He had a hunch… but there was no way… he couldn't…

Sasuke stared disbelievingly at his reflection. Besides all the bruises and cuts scattered across his body, there were two, rounded and twitching, midnight black ears on his head, swerving at every sound and currently trying to flatten themselves to the back of Sasuke's head. He touched one corner, watching it twitch away even as the feather-light brush registered in his mind as ticklish.

"What the hell?" He murmured, tugging on one and wincing as it gave a spark of pain to his scalp and down to the base of his skull.

"HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH MY BODY?" A loud, obnoxious voice hollered. Sasuke's newfound ears immediately perked as he recognized Naruto's annoyingly loud voice, and he rushed to the door. The doctor called a warning that Sasuke missed running out, looking up and down the long white hallway.

A medical tray came flying out of a room along with several clipboards and flurries of papers. Sasuke sped towards it, knowing that wherever there were flying objects, Naruto was bound to be involved.

"Naruto!" He called and gripped the doorframe to swing himself into the room. "Naru-!" Sasuke stopped midsentence.

Before him was a furious, blonde headed dobe, thrashing around as panicked nurses and doctors tried called what they thought were calming consolations. It was obviously Naruto, but instead of his normal, muscled body, there were curves and lumps in places there shouldn't be on guys, and long, long legs. Plus two pale golden brown ears and an angrily twitching, bushy liquid gold tail.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE? I'VE GOT EARS! AND BOOBS!" She was yelling, screaming, at everyone she saw, tossing everything around the room, with a fury only Naruto could muster up on an occaision like this. "WHOEVER PUT THIS DAMN JUTSU ON ME, TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF TAKE IT OFF-"

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's head whipped up and turned around to where Sasuke was standing, watched Naruto, a partly startled, partly amused look in his face, even in his sort of panicked/confused state. Naruto's eyes lit up the minute the landed on a familiar face.

"Oh my god, you have ears too!" He- She, Sasuke corrected himself- cried and rushed at Sasuke. "Great! I'm not actually loosing my mind! Did that thing really happen? Did we actually…" Naruto trailed off. Sasuke gulped the hard lump in his throat, remembering all the blood, all the pain.

"Yeah." He said tersely.

Naruto blinked wide wide blue eyes. Her facial structure had changed too, Sasuke noticed. "Then that means that-" Naruto was cut off by a girlish scream.

"Sakura." Naruto and Sasuke said in unison. Naruto snatched her jacket off a chair and Sasuke was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that Naruto was not wearing a bra beneath her skin-tight black t-shirt. Shaking his head, they both bolted off down the hallway and leaving a room full of shell-shocked hospital employees and flying papers in the ransacked room.

"This way." Sasuke said, immediately detected the source of Sakura's screams. He and Naruto ran past the room Sasuke had woken up in, passing the nurse who was desperately trying to wave him down. Sasuke darted in, grabbing his shredded shirt and tugging it on. Better that than nothing. Fighting shirtless was not something he was fond of. He led them both to a doorway where the door stood already half ajar.

"-Miss, we need you to calm down. This is a hospital, and if you tell us the problem, we can try and help you." A calm looking male doctor said, standing in front of an assistant that cowered, terrified behind him, peering out at the girl who was centered in the room.

Sasuke and Naruto looked to where their teammate was twirling around in circles, trying to get a look at the pair of dusky brown wings on her back.

"Okay, this is officially strange." Naruto commented, watching his- her, dammit!- teammate struggle to get a good look at her new appendages.

"Considering you were wrecking the whole place, I think she's handling it quite well." Sasuke replied drily and ignored the glare that Naruto sent his way. He walked up to Sakura, gripped her shoulders and giving her a good, solid shake. The assistant was making whimpering sounds and the doctor was gapping at them, seemingly unable to form words.

When he stopped, Sakura was staring at him with wide, jade green eyes. "Sakura, calm down." Sasuke stated. Sakura nodded dumbly, eyes glassy. Sasuke eyed the half-healed scab that ran from her temple to her jaw with a wince. He turned to Naruto. "Dobe."

Naruto looked up from where... she... was inspecting some of the tools next to the bed as if to consider using them as personal tools. Or weapons. "We need to get out of here." S_o we can figure this out_, went left unsaid.

Naruto looked up and gave him a wide, toothy grin. "Way ahead of you." She said and grabbed a handful of the potentially dangerous medical instruments before stuffing them in the pocket of her now ridiculously baggy pants that she'd been wearing last. The assistant was still quivering, but the doctor stumbled over his words in an attempt to stop Naruto. She just turned and with a shirt burst of speed, flitted out the door and from sight. The doctor turned to Sasuke and Sakura

"Sir, I'm afraid that you and your friends can't leave until you've been registered. You three were in quite a serious accident, and your friend need to give back the- hey! I'm serious! Please return t-!" Sasuke ignored whatever else the doctor was blathering on about, instead jogging down the hall with a quiet Sakura in tow behind him.

Sasuke ran into the room closest down the hall, startling a wide-eyed girl with pale blue scales that trailed down her neck and arms. He grabbed the doctors' tools on the table and shoved them at Sakura. "Here. We might need these." He darted out again to the next room.

It was his original room and upon catching sight of him, the doctor and the mouse girl jumped up. "Sir, we are going to need your blood type and your name for medical purposes." Sasuke walked past the doctor, took his shredded shirt from the chair and tugged it over his head. It was this or nothing, and Sasuke was not fond of fighting shirtless, no matter how much the blood caked at the color itched. Sakura paled slightly as she caught sight of the damaged clothing.

Sasuke ignored her and snagged more of the doctor's utensils from the counter lying against the wall. He tugged open a drawer, happy to see something that at least resembled a full on knife, even if it wasn't tempered metal.

"Wait, you can't take those!" The mouse girl protested. Sasuke shot his sharpest glare at her and her mouth snapped shut with an audible click, her soft, pretty features blanching.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, still in a stupor, even as he took her wrist in a firm grip and pulled her from the room.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, catching up quickly. "We gotta go! They're calling for security or something!" Naruto said, running up to Sasuke, her orange jacket that she'd probably gone back to get (the idiot) firmly over her back, the pockets bulging with sterilized metal.

"We're Anbu." Sasuke replied as if those words solved all their problems. Sakura seemed to be in a post traumatic state, her vision reduced to staring blankly ahead, and her eyes glazed over. Naruto was moving, even hampered by the metal, and lagging a bit. Probably because she was… well, a girl now. Which could prove some hassles. "Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe? We got this in the bag!" Naruto cried out, pumping her fist in the air.

Sasuke sighed. It was definitely a maybe.

A voice rang down the hallway, deep and commanding. "There!"

Sasuke reacted in no time to the exclamatory shout. He grabbed Sakura and tossed her over his shoulder and gripped the front of Naruto's jacket. He bolted in the opposite direction, dragging them both with him. There had to be an exit somewhere.

"They're on the run again!" Was the same voice.

"Why are they after us?" Naruto yelled, pulling herself away from Sasuke's grip and sprinting to keep up with his pace. Sasuke sighed.

"I don't know." Sasuke replied.

Naruto nodded. "Then why do we have ears?"

Sasuke's teeth ground together. "I don't know."

"Why the hell did that bastard do this?" Sasuke's jaw twitched. Really? _Really?_

"I don't know."

"Where-"

"I don't fricken know, dobe!" Sasuke snapped out. He had to get them out of there before something seriously dangerous happened and Naruto was busy pondering their circumstances?

Naruto grumbled quietly to herself, but settled for a more silent role,The only sounds being their breathing and Sakura's quite grunts as she bounced on Sasuke's shoulder. Radio sounds were echoing down the hallway, making it hard to judge how for behind their pursuers were.

They turned down a hallway lined with windows and Sasuke felt any hope he had of a quick, easy escape wither. They were on a third floor, surrounded by the parking lots and buildings of a bustling, blaring city. They couldn't jump, and Sasuke didn't know where the nearest stairs were.

He swore under his breath.

"Stairs." Sakura huffed. "Put me down, I see stairs."

"Where?" Sasuke asked, not bothering to put her down. Sakura pulled her upper body up off of his back and twisted around.

"Up on your left." She said.

"I see it." Naruto said and ran ahead, opening the door and ushering Sasuke and Sakura through.

Sasuke only had a second's hesitation when he looked down at the long flights of stairs. He dropped a less hazy Sakura from his shoulder and began to descend, taking the steps three at a time. He heard the door open again and the voices of the pursuers and he sped up. They were closer than he had anticipated.

Sakura was only lagging slightly, but caught up quickly, her previous training taking over. Sasuke could see the end, the exit tantalizingly close. Maybe they really could make it.

The exit opened and a burly guy stepped through, casting a triumphant grin at Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura. Naruto, who had run ahead again skidded to a screeching stop.

"Other way, other way!" She said, doing a three-sixty and running up the stairs.

"They're up there too." Sakura said. She came to a standstill in front of a window, looking up and down at the two staircases and the people all heading towards them.

Sasuke saw the opportunity and ran next to her, looking out the window. It was a ten-foot drop, but not as bad as it could have been. He braced his elbow by pressing his palms together and smashed the glass in three places, the shatter sounding like needles on his eardrums. Naruto and Sakura quickly caught on, and while Naruto turned around and started whipping sharp metal tools at advancing people, making them pause, the people above them hesitating a floor level up. Sasuke snorted. No training whatsoever it appeared. Sakura began smashing the other half of the window.

Finally, there was a hole wide enough and Sasuke nodded to Sakura who quickly eased herself through and dropped, the wings on her back extending so slightly it barely altered her course. Sasuke saw her roll on the pavement and give him a thumbs up before pulling himself through.

"Naruto!" He called. Naruto looked over.

"Go, I'm right behind you!" She said barely pausing in her throwing. The hospital personnel had caught on and were trying to find ways to get around Naruto's (somewhat) deadly accuracy. Sasuke didn't reply, just pushed himself through the window before her.

The feel of the wind rushing past his limbs and through his hair felt so good after the stale air of the hospital. The smell of acrid smoke and thick dust clouded his nose, and the bright nearly florescent blue of the sky was almost blinding in the patches where it shone through the clouds. The ground was rushing up at him and Sasuke bunched the muscles of his legs for impact.

Once he hit the ground, Sasuke rolled away, listening, as there was a thud and a grunt as Naruto landed in the place he had just been in.

"C'mon!" Sakura yelled, beckoning from beside a gate. "Let's go!" Sasuke and Naruto sped towards her, and took a left the minute they hit sidewalk, trying to avoid crashing into curious people as they did.

"Blending in, movement twenty seven!" Sasuke rapped out. Immediately, their paces slowed, heads ducking, bodies spreading out, but staying within sight of each other. Naruto turned her jacket inside out, stuffing her hand in her pockets, and staring down at her feet.

Sakura pulled off her pink half skirt, twisting it into a rope and tying it around her waist like a belt. She ripped the sleeves off of her shirt in two quick movements, sucked her lips between her teeth, and pulled her hair into a low ponytail, tucking her bangs tightly behind her ears.

Sasuke stripped his shirt off, trying to avoid open stares as he turned it to the white inside and put it back on (it was still ripped, but it was a change). He used a hair band to keep his hair from sticking up, keeping it low to the base of his neck and hunching his shoulders. He sent up a prayer to whatever god there was that they wouldn't get caught.

They had escaped, but that didn't mean that they were out of deep water yet.

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**THIS IS A REPOST.**

**Edited and much better. I'll be doing this to all chapters before I continue writing it. I'm not sure if FF sends out messages for this kind of stuff, but if it does, I encourage you to reread! The writing before was so old it was embarrassing. Now, hopefully its a bit more detailed.**

**I'm also going to put a set update date from now on so I remember. I'm thinking ever Wednesday I'll update, since that seems to be the general international update day (for those of you following Naruto and Bleach Mangas and/or Teahouse (yay, Teahouse!) you'll understand).**

**Song of the chapter: Heads Will Roll (A-trak Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs**

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**(1) Dark Peony. **

**Chapter title: Confusion**

**Word Count: 3,375**


	3. Deau

"Okay, do you have any idea about what's going on? Because it is seriously freaking me out." Naruto said, flipping her jacket back right side out. "I can't feel my chakra at all, and last time I checked, I was a guy, and now," Naruto paused to hyke her pants up above her hips again, "I possess girly parts! And these... things!" She jabbed at one ear above her head.

Sakura huffed. "This is another world! It probably doesn't even use chakra." She snapped her skirt around her waist and rolled her shoulders. "At least your not stuck in a pair of wings. I don't even know how to use these!" She complained, pulling out the ponytail her hair was in and shaking it out. Sasuke, finished shifting his clothing back to it's original state (the shirt would have to be thrown out... the combined efforts of running and the fight at made it irreparable), looked to the sky, ignoring the girls as much as possible.

They had all moved to what looked like a very grimy alleyway, hard cement walls towering above them while they set about flipping their clothes back to their original states. Naruto looked down at herself as she flipped her jacket around, then dropped it in favor of gripping her breasts. "S'not fair. They should've been bigger..."

"Naruto! Stop that you perv!" Sakura said, hitting the other girl's shoulder mockingly, pretending to be annoyed as she did whenever she thought Naruto was being indecent. Naruto stuck her tongue out at Sakura, muttering a quiet, "I can't be a perv if I'm doing it to myself…" Sasuke let out a tired sigh. Well, at least some things hadn't changed.

"The nurse in my room said she was an 'anima.'" Sasuke said, changing the subject and commanding his teammates attention. He turned to the streets, studying the people who bustled around, bumping and jostling each other without even a sideways glance. "A 'Mouse Anima' to be exact. I'm betting that the ears-" he looked at Sakura. "-Or wings that someone has determine what animal they patronize." He continued. Sakura nodded, seeing his logic.

"Well then, I have to be some kind of bird anima…" She mused, letting one wing stretch out. It was strange how something so alien could feel so... natural on her. It was like a perfect extension of herself; as if it had always been there. The feathers were light, creamy brown at the top, darkening to an almost blue near the bottom and edges, the inside more of a grayish hue down to brown at the tip.

"Well then, I'm a dog!" Naruto said somewhat happily, twitching her tail and fingering one sandy gold-beige ear.

Sakura shook her head, dragging her eyes off of her wings and looking Naruto up and down. "I'd say more wild." She said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. Sasuke noticed that she still had a bit of (very chipped) mint green nail polish from when they were...

"Fennec Fox." He stated quickly, then blinked, as if he hadn't quite realized he said it. He looked back at the crowd. "I saw a few in the desert on a mission."

Naruto stared, then her face broke into two equally dismal faces. "Oh come on! Why do I always get stuck as a fox!" She cried. "First Kyuubi, now this! Why can't I be something cool? Like a bear! Or a wolverine!" She grinned at the though, her tail twitching behind her with a mix of anticipation and aggravation. She unconsciously tugged at her ear.

Sakura rolled her eyes as Naruto rambled on. She looked back at Sasuke. "What are you, Sasuke?" She asked. Sasuke's lips tightened.

"Panther."

There was silence, then Naruto bust out laughing.

"You're a cat? A little kitty cat?" She laughed, doubling over. Sakura snorted. It suited him so well, it was almost funny, and Naruto wasn't helping with his- her- laughing. She smoothed a hand over her wing. Soft to the touch.

A stone cracked near the wall and instantly, all laughter stopped. They were on their feet and back to back in a matter of seconds, scanning the walls of the alleyway, searching for anything out of place. Sakura squinted at one section. The wall almost looked bent... as if the cement had been poured in sideways. Except that the wall was straight.

She scooped up a can lying near her foot, chucking it hard and fast and was rewarded with a very young-sounding yelp.

"Ouch!" From right next to a pile of boxes where Sakura had been staring, a piece of the concrete moved to cover the spot she had hit. There was a shift, and suddenly, a boy appeared, rubbing his forehead and staring at them with angry brown eyes. His dark brown hair stuck to his scalp with grime and his pants had a tear in the knee. "What the hell was that for?" He asked, moving with a lanky pace until he was standing straight.

Instead of answering, Sakura opted for a quick, "Who are you?" Naruto, always the first to relax, dropped her stance.

The boy eyed her warily, then at the bag of garbage behind her, as if he was afraid she'd throw something else. "Suterusu. Chameleon anima." He said, then his gaze shifted to Naruto. "Rusu, for short." He glared back at Sakura. "Who're you? Haven't seen you on the streets before."

Sasuke stood straight, seemingly relaxed except for the tense of his shoulder blades and the fists by his side. "None of your business. Where are we?" He replied curtly.

Rusu looked ready to bolt, his legs stiffening the way a person prepared themselves for a mad dash. Naruto, seeing this, leaped forward, landing in a crouch in front of Rusu, her face creased an a big, shit eating smile.

"Sorry about him, he can be a little grumpy sometimes!" She winked and felt an icy glare settle itself on the back of her neck. Ouch, she'd probably pay for that one later. "But hey! That was pretty cool, that trick you showed back there! Want to tell me how you did it?" She said. Rusu gave her look that said he clearly thought she was crazy.

"Cause I'm a chameleon. Duh." He replied, as if it were obvious. Naruto gave him a confused, somewhat guilty look and Rusu rolled his chocolate brown eyes, taking a step back. "Watch." He leaned against the wall stilling in a way Naruto would have expected from a seasoned ninja, not this... what, eight year old? Said eight-year-old's skin took on a scaly look, each tiny plate taking on a different color and blending into the background. In seconds, Rusu had completely disappeared from view.

"Whoa!" Naruto said, racing up and pressing her cheek on the wall. "I can see his outline! He changes colors!"

Rusu's eyes opened, giving the wall a face that looked strangely creepy. "Best defense in the world." He said. Then he looked at Sakura. "Except for the likes of her." He said somewhat hurt. Sakura looked down guiltily, but Sasuke stared impassively at the kid.

"So you're a shapeshifter." He said. "Any other tricks up your sleeve you want to tell us about?"

Rusu adopted a mischeviously look. "Watch this!" He said gleefully. And then he was changing again, his skin going from caramel brown to light and pale, a speckling of freckles erupting over the bridge of his nose. His dark brown hair bleached itself, becoming a dirty blonde, his eyes fading from brown to an emerald green. And before any of them could react, he darted off into the crowd.

Sakura watched as he faded into the crowd, then turned her angry gaze on Naruto. "Now look what you did, you idiot! That kid could have been our chance to get out of this city, and you let him get away!"

Naruto spluttered at her. "Me? At least I didn't throw a freaking can at the kid, or scared him shitless like Sasuke did! And what would we do if we got him to take us out of the city? We don't even know where we are, much less what's outside this place! We could end up in another damn world, getting out asses kicked again by a-"

"Shush!" Sasuke hissed, his eyes scouring the crowds with an intensity that resembled his concentration when in sharingan mode. Naruto gave an indignant squeak.

"Don't shush me you asshole! I wasn't even talking to you, you big-!"

"Shuttup Naruto!" He snapped at her. "The child is coming!"

As if on queue, Rusu returned with a smile, looks already fading back to his normal coloring, a sleek black wallet clutched in his grasp/

"Don't get caught, and they never know." He said triumphantly. He held the wallet out to Naruto, and she took it, unclipping it's brass clip and looking inside. "Hope you don't mind, but I took all the paper money in there. You can have the cards."

"What are we supposed to do with cards?" Sakura asked, moving so she could peer over Naruto's shoulder. Naruto slipped out a thin, rectangular piece of plastic out of a slot in the wallet.

"Crack the detiniator code, then go to a Kokan machine to get money from it." Rusu said. His head tilted to the side. "Where are you guys from? The old Country?"

Sasuke took the wallet from Naruto's hands, slipping it into his back pocket and giving a quiet nod to Rusu. "Thank you for your assistance." He said. "How do you-"

Sirens. Rusu looked up, alarmed. Naruto gave him a quizzical look. "What?"

"The fuzz!" Rusu hissed. He began to jog down the alley rapidly, face panicked and whiter than it should have been outside the boy's color changing habit. He looked over his shoulder at where Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were still standing. "What are you doing? Run! We don't know who they're looking for!" His skin began to ripple and color and then, he was gone from sight.

Sasuke looked at the place where Rusu had blended into and then out at where he had seen the crowds walking by. Everyone had started to walk faster, panicked looks drawing their skin tight over their faces as they rushed to get home. The streets were draining far too quickly for his liking.

"What are fuzz?" Naruto asked, walking up to where the street opened up and looking out. "Where's everyone going?" The sirens were growing nearer, blaring noise through the tall buildings towards the skies.

"Let's go." Sasuke said and pocketed the wallet. Whatever the fuzz were, he had a sneaking suspicion that they weren't good news. Heading deeper into the alleyway, he listened to Sakura and Naruto's footsteps as they fell in line behind him.

Naruto jumped up front, her nose in the air. "This way! I can smell it." She chirped, pointing down a tiny alley that was no more than seven inches wide. "No one's been this way in a while!" She said turning down the narrow passage. Sakura felt panic began to well up inside her as she squeezed herself into the space. She shook her head. She had been in tighter spaces than this before, why was it different now? It was almost as if... if the walls were trying to crush her alive.

They stopped, trying to breathe quietly as they stayed pressed against the walls of the corridor. Sasuke had his eyes closed, his bicep brishing Naruto's shoulder, while Sakura's hand gripped the wall near his thigh as if it were going to come up an eat her. Sakura fought down a huge wave of nausea that rolled over her, closing her eyes and swallowing.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

Another swallow, too loud in the cramped space. "I don't know." She replied, voice hoarse. Her eyes opened and she looked up at where a sliver of sky peered down at them through their crevice. An unnamed feeling flew in her throat and she nodded upwards. "We need to get up there." She said. She grit her teeth, pressing her shoulders and knees to the cement walls on either side of them, and began to shimmy her way to the top.

"Wait, Sakura! Where are you going?" Naruto called in a stage whisper. If they moved, whoever it was they were hiding from would see them! Sasuke muttered a curse but her followed her on her quest up the wall. The sirens had come dangerously close, and by now, the streets were almost completely empty.

"I see them! They're in section four ninety two, we may need backup." A voice called. All three of them began to move faster as they saw figures squeezing into the opening. There was a ping and a chip of cement flew off near where Sakura's hand was. She squealed, pulling her hand closer.

"What the hell are those?" She called, and stopped looking down at Sasuke and Naruto who were steadily catching up.

"I don't know. Just keep moving, and don't stop." Sasuke said and passed Sakura. "We don't want to be here when they catch up."

"Ah!" Naruto yelled. She had stopped and was holding her shoulder where blood had started to drip. Then, she was racing up the wall faster than Sasuke and Sakura. "Don't get hit by the things they're throwing! They're weapons!" She yelled. Naruto was first to reach the top, and swung herself onto what appeared to be a long, flat rooftop.

Sakura grimaced, the rough surface of the cement walls scrapping her elbows skinless. A stone stuck itself to her knee, but the sky was so close, only a few feet away now. If she had chakra, she could just boost herself up, but now her hand could almost reach the edge and...

Air, open and clear and not weighted down by the stone buildings that littered the area. Sasuke was up in seconds, Naruto on his heels. "You think we're safe?" She asked him. A sound light metal on stone echoed through the air, loud as the crack of lighting and something whizzed past Sasuke's ear with a sharp whistle, another chipping the stone at Sakura's feet.

"That's a no." Naruto said, backing up quickly and running towards the opposite end of the roof, ducking her head down as more of the flying shrapnel hurled themselves past their heads.

"Duck!" Sasuke called.

"No freaking duh, teme!" Naruto yelled back.

Sasuke sneered, shooting her a venomous glance and opening his mouth.

"You know this really isn't the time to be fighting!" Sakura cut them off. Naruto skidded to a stop, her toes inches from the edge of the rooftop. She looked across the opening to the next building. A fifteen foot jump.

"What are you doing? Jump!" Sasuke said, coming to a skidding stop next to her.

"Are you kidding? That's a four story drop over a huge jump, and I don't have any chakra!" She cried, holding her arms out. Sakura came up behind them and peered down, then back over shoulder to where she could see figures in dark gray uniforms coming up.

"We're gonna have to." She said and gulped. She looked hesitantly at the edge.

"I'll go first." Sasuke said. He backed up two steps, giving himself a running start. His muscles tensed as he jumped, propelling himself across the opening and landing easily on the other side.

"How the hell did you do that?" Naruto called. Sasuke shook his head, looking a little surprised himself.

"C'mon!" Sakura yelled, giving Naruto a nudge with her hand. They didn't have time to be stalling.

Naruto ran back farther than Sasuke had, building up her speed before she threw herself over rim. She landed dangerously close to the edge and teetered slightly before Sasuke gripped her arm, pulling her to safety.

"Let's go Sakura!" He called. Sakura nodded, and steeled herself. If Sasuke and Naruto could make it, so could she. Sakura jumped forwards and automatically, her two tawny wings unfurled, catching the slight updraft and launching her across. Almost as soon as she was being pulled up higher by the warm updraft, Sakura's wings snapped shut and she went into a freefall, a suffocated scream trapping itself in her throat. Sasuke rolled to where Sakura was dropping and cushioned her fall in his arms, swinging to slow her momentum so she didn't drop.

"Landing needs work." He said dryly and dropped Sakura on her butt on the ground.

"How was I supposed to know that would happen?" She said, rubbing her butt and standing up.

"You know, I think I may like the whole anima thing going on." Naruto said, flexing her muscles in an unladylike fashion. "Gives me some edge. Some feistiness! Som-" Naruto bowled forward, face screwing up in pain as she reached for her shoulder and landed on her knees on the gravel rooftop. She tipped forward dangerously, a bright red smudge staining her jacket as she collapsed on her face.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. Running over. Naruto was writhing in the ground, a hand clenched around the hole that went nearly straight through her shoulder. Sasuke ripped open her jacket, tugging down Naruto's t-shirt to stare at the hole.

"Sakura! Can you heal her?" He asked urgently, roughly pulling Naruto's jacket off the rest of the way. Naruto cried out in pain, her jaw muscles clenching and unclenching. Sakura knelt down focusing. Her eyes widened.

"I have no chakra…" She whispered.

Sasuke stared, disbelieving, his eyes slightly wild. He looked back. There were people running across the rooftops, and they were getting dangerously close for comfort. One of them stopped to lift a white plastic megaphone to their mouth.

"Put your hands on your head and lie down on the roof!" The chips were still coming, rapidly chinking off stone all around them. Sakura flinched as one slid of the ground by her thigh, making the stones there scatter in a million different directions.

Sasuke cast a murderous glare at their pursuers and tossed Naruto's jacket to Sakura. "Take this." He hoisted Naruto up onto his shoulder, ignoring her whimper. "We need to move."

"I said get down!" The voice said again, crackling with fuzz.

Sasuke flipped them the bird, his face stoney. He didn't check for Sakura, instead moving fast and smooth, taking jumps in single leaps, all the while glancing back and forth. They needed to find cover, and quick. Whatever they were throwing had a farther range than any shuriken, kunai or arrow, and they couldn't keep this pace for very long. He could feel warm liquid dripping from Naruto's shoulder down the back of his shirt and his mouth thinned to a white line. She wasn't going to last long like this.

"Over here!"

Sasuke's head snapped around, looking for the newer voice. There. A woman leaning out of one of the rooftop doorways that stuck up like grave markers from the tops of the buildings. She waved her hand and Sasuke changed direction. He didn't care who she was right now. They needed safety, and now.

Sakura gave a shout of pain and there was a crash. Sasuke looked behind. "You okay?" Sakura nodded.

"Skimmed my leg." She ground out, hoisting herself to her feet. Sasuke gave a quick nod.

"Keep going! We're almost there!"

"Almost where?"

Sasuke ignored Sakura's last question, jumping the last two roofs to the doorway. He gave the woman a silent, grim look. _Safety? _

The woman nodded her wrinkled face. "We can help." She said.

"All I needed to know." Sasuke ducked inside the door that was being held open for him.

"Go down the stairs and open the first door on you right. Then go in the second room and stay there!" The woman called from her place holding the door open, waiting for a limping Sakura.

Sasuke's feet thumped down the stairs and Naruto groaned as it jolted her shoulder. Sasuke glanced around wildly. First door on the right. He looked down at the door handle, once before kicking it down. Inside, there was mass chaos. Children screaming, teenagers gasping, curious gazes peering around walls and out of doors. At the sight of blood dripping on the floor, there were swallows and paling faces. Sasuke ignored them, running down the hallway, turning into the second room, spotting a mat. He knelt down, transferring Naruto from his shoulder to the floor gently.

The sheen of sweat on her forehead was a bad sign and there was blood everywhere, soaking through her shirt and making the dark blue fabric seem black. Her breath came in quick, hot gasps and she was chewing her lip until it bled, eyes hazed over and eyebrows scrunched up.

There was a touch to his shoulder and Sasuke jumped, turning his gaze to a girl, almost his age, with low set, cream-colored ears and ash blonde hair. She looked scared for a split second, but leveled it immediately. "We need to hide her." She said in a soft voice, calm voice. Sasuke paused, uncertain, then gave a barely perceptive nod. The girl smiled and reached for Naruto, but Sasuke stopped her, picking up her limp form instead.

The girl smiled grimly, then lead them to a closet with hurried steps. She opened it, shoving aside piles of shoes and coats from the floor before tugging open a panel that lay flush to the wall, the cracks at the edges nearly invisible. "In here. There's a light, but keep it off." She said. Sasuke stayed silent, moving into the cubby-hole and laying Naruto down gently. Not even a second later, Sakura was ushered inside. She paused at the sight of the small space, eyes going wide with fear. One glare from Sasuke and she was crawling inside, avoiding stepping on Naruto. They were shut into the darkness.

"How's she doing?" Sakura whispered.

"I don't know." Sasuke answered, quiet, worried. He looked at where Sakura would be in the pitch-blackness. "How are you doing?"

"Trying not to panic." She said with a stressed sounding bark of laughter. "I don't think I do well in closed spaces anymore." Sasuke rolled his eyes. If her reaction in the alley was any clue, she was probably never going to like small spaces again. "My leg hurts as well." Sasuke grunted and moved himself into a sitting position, bending his legs over Naruto's, keeping one hand on Naruto's unhurt arm.

"Let's just hope that we didn't just walk into a trap." He said quietly. Now, there was nothing left to do, but wait.

* * *

**Part 2 of my rewrite. I'm leaving the prolouge as it is for now, cause I think its okay. If I feel bad about it later, I'll probably change it.**

**So, there used to be a chapter replace setting, and apparently, the FF staff thought it would be cool to get rid of it. Not cool, FF. NOT COOL.**

**Anyway, I'm changing little things, making their attitudes tenser, more on guard. They were in their early-mid forties when they were "killed" and had been working in the Anbu for almost fifteen years. When they were "resurrected" (as I've decided to call it), they were set back, and now they are all around the age of 17-18. Fairly young bodies, older minds. They'll probably be sterner than they are in the manga now, but feeling the effects of age decrease. Probably prone to moments of childness. I don't know, you make it up. I'm just the writer XD.**

**Rusu will still be coming back (I think thats what I did...?) Sasuke will still be a stern ass, but I'm going to expand on Chiyoki's personality a bit more (Thats the old woman, for all you first time readers). Expect that, and don't expect it to be happy. MUAHAHAHA.**

**Still looking for someone who'd love to beta my stories... pretty please? They need it badly, since I can't edit my own work for crap. This whole "redoing" crap is a miracle in itself. GIVE ME A BETA.**

**Thanks for reviews (more please?), look forward to the next redone chapter, and hopefully i'll get this done soon so we'll be getting the story on a move!**

***NOTE* - If you didn't get it, the shrapnel throwing things are guns. They aren't in Naruto, so none of them know what the hell they are.**

* * *

**Chapter title: Meet**

**Song of the chapter: No Lights No Lights: Florence and the Machine**

**Word Count: 4,326**


	4. Kakusu

Sasuke sighed, leaning his head back against the wood and looking up into the black of the closet. His night vision had definitely improved. Even just the tiny amount of bleak gray light that seeped in at the corners of their doorway was enough to let him see the crack that spidered its way down past his shoulder. His sense of smell had doubled as well, tripled when his mouth opened. The smell of iron in the small room was nearly over powering.

Sakura's quiet breathing was soft, almost silent but for the small hitches when her eyelids fluttered. She had managed to fall into a somewhat restless sleep in the hours they had been sitting there, sparing the risk of her new claustrophobic attacks. As he watched, her figure shifted in the darkness, the toe of her shoe bumping his ankle. Her eyes opened, squeezed shut, and her next breaths were more forced than they had been. Finally, he felt her relax, lapsing into sleep again, and he released the breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

He reached out, hand fumbling towards where Naruto was, knocking her ribs before sidetracking to her arm. Still alive, but her skin had gotten much colder than it should have been, restless breaths rattling her small frame. He'd always been small, but in this form, he (she) seemed so much smaller. She was hovering in the limbo of sleep, not quick conscious, but not awake either.

Footsteps coming towards them. Sasuke stiffened at the unfamiliar voices that were speaking, too low to be one of the copious amounts of children he'd seen, and he hadn't seen a man hanging around the house. Leaning back, Sasuke felt himself accidentally nudge Sakura's arm.

In a second, Sakura was up. Her head rammed against the ceiling and she sat down again with a squeak, her breath speeding up, though from pain or realization that she was back in the cubby hole, Sasuke couldn't tell. He heard the voices go quiet, footsteps come closer. Perfectly still, he gripped Sakura's arm in a way that was sure to leave bruises. Naruto's fingers twitched as she came a bit closer to consciousness.

"-you hear that?" A click and then white light shone through the crack on the floor where the hidden door was. In it, Sasuke could see one of Sakura's eyes, bright jade green, and wide in fear. Trapped in a hole with no where to go, and no chakra to rely on in a pinch. A ninja's worst nightmare.

A loud snort. "It's a closet. No one would be stupid enough to hide in there." Another voice answered, deeper and gruffer than the first. Another click, and the light vanished once again. Sasuke stayed frozen until his eyes readjusted themselves to the lower light level, then let his fist release from it's deathgrip around Sakura's bicep. She was still stiff as a board though, and her breath speeding up far too quickly.

Sasuke leaned close. "Close your eyes!" He hissed at her. "You're outside. Blue Sky."

A loud gulp from beside him in the darkness, fingers finding his and clinging as it her life depended on it. "I don't know how much longer I can stand in here." She whispered feebly back.

"Not much longer." He hoped.

"Sasuke?" This one was from Naruto. Sasuke used his free hands to feel his way up her arm to her cheek, fingertips tracing over her eyebrows and feeling her lashes flutter. A sign that he was listening.

"... Am I blind?"

"We're in a closet." Sasuke said and sighed. Sick and weak as she sounded, at least she had enough energy to joke a bit.

Naruto's face crinkled beneath his hand in what he assumed was a smile, then relaxed as she lay back. No doubt she'd been awake when he'd tried to calm Sakura (who was steadily cutting off the circulation to his hand.)

Light came again as the closet was opened, and with it, the trap door. Sasuke squinted, shielding his eyes with a hand from the suddenly painful amount of light.

An unfamiliar boy, only about ten, peered in from beneath a mop of black hair with bright blue eyes. He couldn't get a word our before Sakura was shoving herself out, in the process managing to squash Sasuke's hand with her heel.

The boy stared after Sakura who was skidding around, probably looking for a window or something. Then he turned his eyes to Sasuke, wide and scared by the glare he received in return. They shifted to Naruto quickly, widened, and his mouth opened.

"She's hurt." He said, a slight accent hanging in his voice, lilting and round. Sasuke's stare didn't waver. Naruto looked overly pale in the sickening white light, and didn't say anything.

"Kakesu!" It was the girl from before, cream ears flattened so low to her skull, they nearly disappeared in the folds of her hair. She hurried over, shooing away the boy swiftly and ignoring his complaints.

"But Akemi-" He whined. A pair of scruffily pointed black ears atop his head swiveled around.

"No. Go away." Akemi, the girl said quickly and nearly shoved the boy-Kakesu- out the door. She turned back to Sasuke and her face softened considerably.

"You can come out now. They're gone." She said speaking as though a loud noise would scare him stony, Sasuke let his lips tighten to a thin line, slid his arms beneath Naruto and eased them both through the door and into the open.

He couldn't help it when his eyes began their automatic skim for escape routes. Open door to the left, the one he'd come through, though now it was full of curious children. A second door across the room from him, closed, but it probably led to another room. Wide window against the wall beside him, though there were no latches or bolts. It didn't open. Sasuke sent glares at the children, watching them scatter. If worse came to worse, their only certain escape would be through that door.

"What have we got here?" An older woman, smile lines wrinkling her face, came in, tying an apron around her middle. Sasuke recognized her as the one who had waved them inside, and watched warily as her deep set eyes measured Naruto grimly where Sasuke had lain her on the floor.

"She took a bullet. Around here on her shoulder." Akemi said, kneeling down on the ground next to Sasuke, her hands motioning to the general area of where the blood was seeping down. She smelled of clorox and wheat. Sasuke's hands tightened to fists where they rested on his thighs. Neither of the women noticed. Thankfully, no one tried to shoo him out as Akemi had to the boy. Sasuke was sure the result would not have been pretty.

Finished tying her apron, the woman set to work immediately, gripping a knife between her knobbly fingers. Sasuke's spine stiffened and he half stood, when the woman brought the knife near Naruto's throat, blood surging in his ears. She pressed it to the hem of her shirt, slicing an angle enough to expose Naruto's shoulder. Sasuke's throat constricted,

Sasuke had seen his fair share of spilt blood, deep wounds and ripped stomachs before. When his first kill had come along, not long after he'd left Konoha, he'd retched, listening to Orochimaru's laughter, like the slithering of snakes across grating, but seeing the woman's eyes gray and pale, the splattering of blood from his kunai plunged into her throat, and the way she'd coughed more up on his arm. When he'd gotten stronger, he'd tamped down everything that made him "weak." Slicing and dicing, dislocation and pulverization, he'd seen enough gore to make some medic ninja envious. This though...

Kunai knives made neat slashes, Swords made clean cuts, shuriken made single divets. "Bullets" made one, perfectly circular and utterly sickening hole, the skin around it purpling and bruising, skin flayed and torn to make a ring of dead, sagging, puckered flesh.

"Definitely a bullet. Probably still in there, seeing as there's not enough of an exit wound for a clean hit." The woman "tsked" quietly as she probed around the area. "Bullets these days... probably split apart when his hit muscle tissue..." She muttered and "tsked" again. Without looking up, she waved a hand around. Sasuke leaned back to avoid being flicked with the spare amounts of blood on her fingertips.

"We need a bowl of lukewarm water, clean dishrags, the scissors I keep in the specialty drawer, Hana's long tweezers, and some needle and thread." She rapped out. Akemi jumped up as if a bee had stung her, running from the room and calling out around the house until feet were beating like thunder against floorboards.

Sasuke settled down into a crouch, forearms on his knees. "Who are you?" Courtesy demanded he be polite to an elder, gracious to a host when being shelted. Courtesy did not demand that those rules apply in a possible hostile situation, and as far as Sasuke could read, this could turn into one at any moment.

"Chiyoki." She looked up, measuring him from his head to his feet, a frown creasing her face. She looked back down at her probing. "Brown Bear anima."

Chiyoki grunted as she tore more of Naruto's shirt away, and suddenly, Sasuke was very aware of the fact that Naruto now did indeed posses breasts. Gulping nervously, he focused on Chiyoki's hands working to shift Naruto's torso around. "Help me roll her onto her stomach. The force went through her, but the bullet is near the entrance." She grunted.

Sasuke leaned forward, placing his words in his mind carefully before heaving Naruto onto her stomach. Naruto wimpered lightly and Sasuke tried not to wince. Even with high pain tolerance, this must have hurt a lot more than she was letting on. Sasuke licked his lips, eyes flickering at Chiyoki before looking back down at her hands. "So a bullet comes from...?"

Chiyoki glanced up, surprise marring her features and forcing her mouth into an "o" shape, before she burst out into cackles of laughter. "Don't know what a gun is? Boy, where _are_ you from?" She said, still chuckling and shaking her head.

Sasuke's discomfort doubled. So easy to see through them... If they'd been anywhere else, blending in would be second nature, but here, they were just so out of place. Sasuke brushed A bit of Naruto's bangs out from her eyes to mask his jitteryness. Akemi came in, balancing water as best she could without having it slosh over the edges of the bowl, setting it down placidly besides Chiyoki. A fistful of dishrags from the back of her skirt was deposited as well, before she was jogging back out.

Chiyoki watched her go before answering in a low tone. "Bullets come from guns, and guns are weapons that are not to be messed with." She pulled her hands away and rested them on the apron, leaving crimson smudges on the gray fabric. She pinned Sasuke with her gray eyes, are as flint and serious as the death. "They are not to be used lightly."

And then the seriousness disappated, replaced with a worried sort of determination and focus as she dipped a rag into the water and began to wash the drying blood away from the wound, unsticking black cloth from where it had been matted against Naruto's skin. Naruto squeezed her eyes shut, breathing quickly through her mouth as Chiyoki tugged a thread from the wound. She'd been so quiet. Quiet Naruto was not good.

Sasuke sat back again,thinking over Chiyoki's words. Anything that made wounds like this was bad news. So far everything was looking like bad news; they didn't know where they were, didn't know the weapons used, and stuck out like sore thumbs, Not to mention Sakura had disappeared to who knows where.

"Here." Akemi came in again, this time with tweezers, scissors, and thread and needle at hand. She set them next to the bowl an a white cloth to keep them from touching the concrete floor, and settled near Naruto's feet, careful not to jostle her. "How bad?"

"Not as bad as it coulda been," Chiyoki said, almost to herself, eyes not lifting. As Sasuke watched, she lifted a a sliver or blood covered metal from the hole and made Naruto hiss. "But the bullet seems to have split on contact. The 24-30 bullets are getting more common it seens, to be used by the BR. There's a large chunk lodged between the clavicle and the scapula near a tendon. It's gonna be a pain to get out." Chiyoki went silent, and Sasuke quietly thanked the months he'd spent in Kabuto's labs for a strong stomach and anatomy lessons.

The work was grim and silent, aside from the occasional murmur from Chiyoki, or squeak from Naruto, who was looking so white, Sasuke had started wishing she would just pass out. The bleeding had started again and had pooled on the rug beneath her, staining it a dirty reddish-brown. At somepoint, Sakura came back in, looking flushed, windblown and very very nervous. Sasuke met her eyes. _All clear?_

_Clear. _Sakura gave a nod, hair swishing around her chin. Her wings fluttered a bit behind her and Sasuke was suddenly reminded with stark clarity the fact that everyone here was part animal. Shoving the though back, he eyes Sakura again, a quick, barely conceivable toss of his head to the left where they had come from._ Door?_

A slower nod, eyes shifting up, indicating that the only way out was up. Great.

"I never caught your name." Chiyoki said suddenly. Sasuke's eyes shifted from Sakura's to Chiyoki's where they were still focused on Naruto. She was threading a needle quietly, and it was almost as if she hadn't asked the question at all. Sakura dissappeared back down the hallway, this time toward the left. More scouting. Sasuke stared down at Naruto's ashen face, ignoring the look Akemi was giving him.

"Sasuke." He swore internally. It was Anbu standard to give an alias, but this world had shaken him up enough to jar him out of well-worked in habits.

Chiyoki nodded sagely, burning the length of the needle with an oddly shaped lighter. "And who might I be working on?"

Sasuke hesitated. Didn't matter much in this world he guessed, since they had no record here. "...Naruto." At her name, One of Naruto's eyes cracked open, looking flat and bloodshot. The corner of her mouth twitched in a half-hearted smile, then relaxed again.

"Naruto? What an odd name for a girl." Chiyoki said and set about work sewing up the torn bits of skin, now freshly trimmed and cleaned. It was still bruising, but it looked worlds better than it had before. Same couldn't be said for Naruto.

Sakura slid open the door, finding Sasuke's eyes, mouthed a quick, _Twelve rooms total,_ and shut the door again. Chiyoki spared a glance over her shoulder, then at Sasuke with a quirked eyebrow.

"That's Sakura." Sasuke said before the woman could ask.

"Flighty one, isn't she?" Chiyoki asked. Sasuke nodded. Akemi was pretending to look busy rinsing out rags in the red colored water of the washbowl and listening in quietly. She was making him uneasy just sitting there and listening in with no contributions. His mind supplied him with it's paranoid answers. _Spy._

Seeing his shift in attention, Chiyoki smiled at Akemi, face creasing warmly and fitting everyone of those smile wrinkles. "Akemi dear, we need some bandages." She said. Akemi gave her a somewhat hurt look, but complied either way, standing up with the bowl of water and flouncing from the room. The door shut harder than necessary, and Chiyoki finished her stitching, tying a tiny, neat, practiced knot, and wiping her hands on her aprom, smudging it further.

"You three aren't from around here." Chiyoki stated. Not a question, not a query. For the life of him, Sasuke could not tell what was going on behind her dark gray eyes. A small sigh, not one she could have heard, and Sasuke tore his eyes away from her and let his fingers skim the air of Naruto's shoulder where the fine stitching was set in a nearly perfect row. "Obvious?"

Chiyoki snorted. "You didn't know what a gun was." She said and shook her head. "Plus, police only give chases like that when they're after unknowns."

"Unknowns?"

"Folk not registered in the system that runs our fair city." Chiyoki's voice held a certain bitterness and she waved around at the walls as if indicating the whole of the city that was bustling outside the building. The sun was just dipping below the horizon outside, painting the overcast sky a purplish blue. Akemi came back in with rolls of linen held delicately in her palms. One of her ears twitched at the topic of their conversation.

Chiyoki took the linen and set about wrapping Naruto's shoulder while Sasuke moved to prop her body up. She'd finally fallen into a feverish sleep, her eyes still scrunched and eyebrows furrowed in a way that made her nose bunch up at the bridge.

"Everyone in Shinrin City is registered in the computers and tracked wherever they go. People unregistered: unknowns. Invisible to the system, and therefore a 'potential threat'."

Sasuke's jaw clenched. Perfect. Now they had no way of moving about the city to gather information either. They'd have to gather as much from the confines of this place and then... then they'd...

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. God, things looked bleak. He and Sakura would have to find some sort of game plan... find a way to register themselves without being given away or being directly pinpointed.

Chiyoki grunted as she pulled herself up, oblivious to Sasuke's thoughts and using a nearby chair as a brace. Akemi gathered up the extra materials quickly, rolling them into an unorganized bundle in her arms and avoiding meeting Sasuke's eyes. Chiyoki nodded at her, clasping her worn hands together. "Akemi will show you to your rooms." Seeing the worried glance Sasuke tossed at Naruto who he's scooped up into his arms once again, she smiled. "Or room, if you want to keep an eye on her during the night." She added. Sasuke sent her silent thanks.

Akemi led them out into a long hallway lined with rooms on either side. There were indeed, twelve, along with three bathrooms, four closets, a pantry, and a door that led up a set of stairs. Looking into one of the copious occupied rooms, Sasuke saw a pile of five year olds scrunched together in an effort to all get a good look at a picture book that was placed in front of them.

"Why are there so many... children?" Sasuke asked, peering into another room to be greeted with the sight of three giggling girls on a bed a crouched over a flat glowing pad of light, watching what appeared to be two other people talking.

Akemi looked over her shoulder at him. "Nana takes in anyone off the streets. We act as a halfway house for runaways and orphans." She shut a door with two boys whooping and yelling over a large black cube, fingers flitting over hand held controllers as they jumped about. "Even the authorities see it as a sort of haven." A shrug of her too thin shoulders. "They don't bother us much."

Two doors down and she opened up a messily spray painted, dark brown door that had some of the wood chipping off at the corner. "You can stay in here." It was small, but comfy, with light blue walls and a two mattresses settled onto the floor, covered in slightly musty, but well worn blankets. "Sorry that two of you will have to share, but as you can see, we're a bit short on beds and rooms." She said and her ear twitched backwards, knocking some of her hair around her face. She blew at it irritatedly.

As if with on a second thought, her eyes brightened."Oh! Dinner will be at six. Call me if you need anything!" She said. Her soft blue eyes nearly closed with her sweet smile. "I'm a Lamb Anima, in case you wanted to know." She said when Sasuke eyed her ears once again. It suited her.

Akemi closed the door behind her as she left.

Sasuke brought Naruto over to the bed, setting her down lightly on the covers and trying to figure out a way to maneuver her so he could place her under them.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke turned to the door where Sakura was looking in. "I think I like my wings." She said, brushing her fingers against the feathers softly. Sasuke sighed. Of course that was what she would come up with at a time like this.

Sakura blushed at the blunder and came in fully, leaning on the door to close them in. "How is she?"

"Fine, hopefully." Sasuke said and rubbed a thumb across her too pale, whiskered cheek. "Help me get her under?"

"You like her, don't you?" Sasuke stopped, one arm underneath Naruto, and looked at Sakura.

"What?"

"You like her."

Sasuke blinked at her, dumbfounded. What was she talking about? "Sakura, I-"

"You do."

Sasuke's mouth shut with a click. He slid his other hand around her and picked her up, waiting as Sakura moved around the bed and tugged down the sheets. She pulled them up over Naruto when he set her down again, and continued.

"I noticed it when Naruto got hurt." Her eyes went to the wrapping on Naruto's shoulder. "But before that too. Just the way you acted around... him." Now she was talking about back in Konoha, but that couldn't be right. Naruto was a guy, and so was Sasuke and-

Sasuke cut himself off there with a frown. So were Kakashi and Iruka. So was Sai. It wasn't that that mattered... but this was Naruto. What made "her" different from "him?"

"I was wondering if you'd do anything," She said with a sad smile and tugged the sheets up farther, covering Naruto's shoulder so that, if they hadn't known better, it would have seemed as if she were merely asleep after a long day of training. "Seems you didn't 'til now." She laughed drily. "All if took was a near fatal wound, I guess. Typical guys." A wince. "Sort of."

"Try not to hurt her when you tell her, okay?" She asked, her hand heavy and warm on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke didn't say anything, just stared and Naruto's sleeping face as if trying to erase the dim pain lines etched into it.

Sakura sighed, hand dropping away from his shoulder. The door closed with a click.

Quietly, Sasuke dragged a chair that was placed in the corner over to the edge of the bed, sitting down, and rubbed her face, checking to see if her body heat had risen more. He stared at the pad of his thumb where it had run over Naruto's cheek, over the slightly raised, bumped up lines of her whiskers. Her cry, all that blood, staining the carpet, covering her jacket and soaking her shirt. Her pale face when the needle went in and out of her shoulder again and again. Girl or not, Naruto was his teammate, not a love interest, nothing more than a sparring partner, right? Sasuke scowled and drew his hand away to glare at the wall. Falling in love? Impossible.

Impossible.

* * *

**In the end, they are still ninja. A first priority is to secure safe surroundings, something people (including me) don't always remember when bringing Team 7's professions into account. They are, first and foremost, trained killers of the government.**

**I'm sorry if I made people seem more unfriendly than they used to be, but the feel of this society is supposed to be more hunted than I portrayed it in my first draft.**

**A few appearance changes (none too big... Chiyoki's eyes are gray now... Akemi is blonde now. etc), some convo switchups. Stuff you probably won't even notice too much. **

**Sorry this is a bit late... I know I said every Wednesday, but I forgot that I was going away the week after I said that... -.-' So, consider this my "Wednesday Update." Except on a Sunday... Ah, well.**

**Look forward to the next one! (reviews are much appreciated lovelys!)**

* * *

**CHAPTER TITLE: Hide**

**Names:**

**Akemi- Bright/ Beautiful**

**Chiyoki- Thousand Generation Child**

**Kakesu- Blue Jay**

**Shinrin- Forest**

**Song of the Chapter: Никто кроме тебя (Nobody But You) - *it's in Russian***

**Word Count: 4,234 (I swear the chapter gets bigger when I edit. I started and the word count was low 3,000s...)**


	5. Shin

Naruto woke to the feeling of fire eating away at his arm, and lead weights pinning his wrists and ankles to the bed. Bed... when had she gotten into bed? Last she remembered was... was...

Naruto sat up so quickly her head spun and her stomach rushed it's meagre contents to her mouth. Hand racing to her shoulder as it gave her another burning jab, Naruto glanced around the spare room. Blue walls, green blanket, white ceiling. Two doors, one window. Sasuke slumped practically over her lap. Where was she? She couldn't remember much after she had been hit except being carried, and feeling something warm holding her close. Warm, safe and lifesaving. Naruto looked at the dark green blankets puddled onto her lap and at her shoulder, which was wrapped in clean white, cloth bandages. The center if one was stained with a red flower in it's center. Naruto felt bile rise up in her mouth. She hated looking at her own wounds.

Sasuke was sprawled over her shins, bags standing out stark against his pale skin and mouth parted ever so slightly. The second bed in the room has sheets flung to the foot of it, a pair of delicately heeled shinobi shoes at the foot, and a pink strand of hair on the pillow. Sakura had slept there which meant Sasuke had probably slept just like he was for... how long? Hopefully just a day. Naruto hated when she slept for more than a day... Made her confused when she woke up. Everyone was ahead of her by a day and catching up was a pain.

As she watched, one of Sasuke's midnight black ears twitched slightly before settling back to it's original position. Naruto reached up and skimmed her fingers over her own, wide cream ears, the fur stiff, but soft on her fingertips. How did Sasuke's feel? They looked so soft...

Her fingers an inch away from the tip, Sasuke's hand flashed up, grabbing her wrist in a painfully hard grip. Naruto was suddenly really hoping that he knew it was her and not an enemy ninja. He'd snap her wrist.

"Ow… Sasuke-teme…" Naruto whined at him, tugging at her wrist that was still caught in his fist. Sasuke mumbled, didn't lift his head, but his hand didn't loosened enough for her to extract it from his fingers. His hand thumped to the covers lifelessly. He'd never been a morning person.

"You okay?" He mumbled against the covers. His eyes still weren't open and his breathing was still slow.

"What?" Naruto asked, pausing for a second from rubbing her wrist in a pouty fashion that she hoped he'd see to give him a curious glance, head tipping to the side.

Sasuke opened one of his eyes, looking at her with a turned, but level midnight black gaze. He had worry lines creased into his forehead. He'd probably stayed up most of the night and Naruto felt a stone drop to the pit of her stomach and her heart threaten to choke itself in her throat.

"I said, are you feeling okay?" He repeated, that one eye trying to bore it's way through her own. Naruto thought for a second, doing a self-assesment check. Her shoulder hurt like bloody hell, and her thigh stung abit, not to mention her stomach was empty as fuck. Nothing new there. She nodded. A look of relief crossed Sasuke's face and his eyes closed again, this time more peacefully.

"That's good." He murmured. Dimly, Naruto wondered if he was even awake at all.

"Ne…" Naruto reached over, jabbing his forehead with her index finger. "Are you even up?" When he didn't respond, she poked him again, this time more forcefully. "Hey, teme! Are you awake?" She made sure to pronounce each word with bright clarity.

Sasuke groaned, waving his hand tiredly in front of his face, not in the mood to put in enough energy to completely deter her. "Leave me 'lone." Couldn't she see he was trying to sleep?

Naruto stopped, sitting back and poking her tongue in her cheek. Stupid ass. It was his own fault that he stayed up all night. Suddenly, her eyes brightened mischeviously. Easing herself up, Naruto crawled over to Sasuke, ignoring the burning sensation of her shoulder when weight was put on it. It was worth it to spread her weight enough to he wouldn't feel her coming.

Carefully, leaning ever so slightly on her good arm so she could free her injured one, Naruto inched her hand towards Sasuke's ear. He was breathing steadily, the blankets smelled funny, his hair smelled like spice. Naruto's tongue made an appearance at the corner of her mouth. One tug, and he would yowl like all those cats back in Konoha…

"Sasuke, is she awa- NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO SASUKE!" Sakura burst in in full morning glory, hair flying around her face wildly as she took in the site of Naruto's hand poised dangerously close to Sasuke's head. The door slammed into the adjacent wall hard enough to dent the plaster with a sound like a gunshot. Sasuke's head shot up like someone had screamed "Fire!" and his own arm shot out in self defense, sending the blonde girl tumbling onto the floor.

But not before she had caught his ear in a death grip.

"SHIT!" Sasuke yelled, tumbling down after Naruto, grasping wildly at his ear in an attempt to pry her painful fingers off. Naruto yelped when her shoulder hit the floor with Sasuke on top of her.

Sakura stared at the two of them writhing on the floor and clutching their injuries in grief. She quietly shut the door and scampered in silent feet towards the kitchen. Maybe they wouldn't know it was her.

"Ow…" Naruto moaned, holding her shoulder and scrunching her face ridiculously. God, she was freaking seeing stars it hurt so bad. She rolled onto her back, hearing Sasuke muttering curses next to her.

"No wonder cats never liked you…" Sasuke hissed at her, sitting up and rubbing his ear. Naruto focused narrowed blue eyes on him, her cheeks puffing up indignantly.

"It was your fault!" She retaliated and crossed her arms, trying her best not to show discomfort at the way it pulled the muscles of her shoulder painfully tight. She wouldn't give the asshole the satisfaction.

"Mine?" Sasuke gave a bark that would have sounded like laughter if it hadn't been to venomous. "You practically pulled my ear off my head!"

Nauto spluttered. "You wouldn't freaking wake up!"

"That makes it okay?"

Naruto sat up and pointed at the dent in the wall. "Sakura opened the door!"

Sasuke stood. "Sakura has nothing to do with this!"

"Teme!"

"Dobe!"

"Dick!"

"Bitch!"

"Asshole!"

"Prick!"

"You can't call me that! I'm a girl now!" Naruto pointed at him, triumphant at her victory. Sasuke just glared at her, trying not to roll his eyes. That didn't count as a win; She was still insulted.

They stood in fuming silence, glaring heatedly at each other until Naruto's face began to crack into a grin and a soft giggle erupted. The seriousness was so tense it was practically comical. Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lip and soon he was chuckling as well.

"What the hell are we laughing at?" Naruto choked out, holding her sides and looking at Sasuke through her tearing eyes.

"I don't know. You started it!" Sasuke replied, still laughing. He hadn't laughed this much in... how long? He couldn't remember.

"Not that again!" Naruto gasped. "I-I can't breathe!" She giggled, face taking on a bright shade of red at lack of oxygen.

Sasuke nodded, he was starting to feel light headed. He gasped, his laughs subduing slightly, and looked at Naruto who was also calming down slightly, staring at him with eyes brighter than the sky. She plopped herself down on the bed, looking up at Sasuke where he leaned against the wall.

"You should smile more." She said suddenly, her face still creased in her trademark, lopsided grin, one canine overlapping her bottom lip. "You look nicer when you smile." Sasuke felt his face redden slightly and he looked down at his hands, suddenly remembering the way Chiyoki's tied the knot to the stitching in Naruto's shoulder. His smile faded without him knowing it, and he stepped forward quickly.

"C'mon. We should get your shoulder checked." He said and held out a hand to Naruto, hoping she wouldn't notice his still slightly red face. She'd probably think it was from the laughing anyway.

If she noticed, she didn't comment. Letting Sasuke pull her up, Naruto straightened with a sigh and rubbed her shoulder gently.

"By the way, where are we?" Naruto asked, looking around the small room. Sasuke followed her gaze and rubbed the back of his head.

"Good question." He'd done checks of his own after he and Sakura had gotten Naruto settled in, but asking _where_ they were would be a dead giveaway. The children here would probably blab it. Their safety was in the hands of a complete stranger.

Naruto froze, and Sasuke stiffened beside her, unsure of the danger. He leaned close. "What?" He asked quietly, his mouth barely moving, eyes still scanning the room. Naruto's head swiveled to the door.

"Wherever we are, someone's making great pancakes." And with that, Naruto raced off in a flash of gold hair and light tawny fur.

Sasuke shook his head, unwinding slowly. Trust Naruto to make it seem as if the world was ending when she wasn't fed. With a snort, he followed her out towards the kitchen. Apparently, she was feeling a lot better.

* * *

**Wow, two chapters redone in one day. I am srsly done now. The heatwave is killing me and I desperately need to do laundry.**

**Nothing to translate. Mainly fluff stuff, but Naruto heals fast. She's the best at adaptation as well. This will be much harder for Sakura, hardest for Sasuke. He doesn't like change. Thats my theory on why his recuperation after the Uchiha massacre anyway...**

**Enough babbling. Next update is Wednesday. I'm not doing anything until then, I swear.**

* * *

**Chapter title: New**

**Song of the Chapter: Hurricane - Panic! at the Disco**

**Word Count: 1,762 (- shortest one yet)**


	6. Shosai

**TADA. New chapter, whoopdeedoo. I'm sorry i haven't been posting much lately. I've had so many projects due... (that i left for the last minute. As Usual.) **

**Eh, but i'm not one for excuses. I started reading the Mortal Instruments series, and Nabari No Ou, so, for those of you familiar with them, that should basically explain it all.**

**Cause i'm cool like that.**

**Yeah... this is basically a filler chapter. Explaining stuff. Asking questions, shocking revelations. I'm not sure if i should put it in a whole new world, or make it ours later in life... he. I'll figure it out sometime.**

**NOW READ. I COMMAND YOU! (- wrote commang here... oops.)**

* * *

"Here. These should take care of any ID problems you have," Chiyoki said and handed a pair of cards to Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto took her's examining it and flipping it back and forth. It was white, encrusted in numbers and letters on one side, and the other was covered with a bar code.

"What's it do?" Sasuke was the one to ask, after taking his own.

"When you need an ID, they ring up these which says your temporarily under my control." Chiyoki said, her grin showing off a mouth full of teeth, some of them yellowed at the edges. "No one should bother you too much about it."

"Now, you two get going, while I teach miss Pinky here my way of cooking!" Chiyoki said and shooed them out the door while Sakura protested at her new nickname. "Remember, right outside the building, left at the corner. It's a blue building with red shutters." The door slammed closed.

Naruto stared at the door, before giving Sasuke an outraged look. "She wants us to go_ shopping_?" She asked, disbelief edging her voice. Sasuke shrugged and turned down the hallway. "Hey! Where are you going?" Naruto called and ran to catch up. Her shoulder was still stiff, and it hurt when she moved it a lot, but it was healing quickly. Chiyoki's explanation for it was 'fox genes.' Naruto just thought it was cool.

"Shopping." Sasuke said drily. He pulled the shopping list he had out of his pocket, reading it over. The trio had found that the language in this world was similar to their own, just with different accents and terms. The writing was virtually the same as well, with only slight differences.

Naruto read over his shoulder impatiently. "Those're some strange things she wants." She said loudly. She pulled away to go ahead of Sasuke down the stairs, taking them two at a time and nearly tripping over her feet and slamming into a wall at the end. Sasuke spared her a glance before looking back down at the paper.

"Baka." He said in a bored tone. Naruto glared at him and went on to the next flight of stairs. Chiyoki owned the top two floors of the five story building, and almost an entire floor was filled and dedicated to living quarters. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had yet to meet all the residents. After Naruto had wolfed down six pancakes at breakfast, Chiyoki had asked if Sakura would help her get started on dinner for that night, while Sasuke and Naruto went shopping.

Naruto's immediate answer had been, "Why with the teme?" Earning herself a smack upside the head from Chiyoki and mutterings about unladylike juevenile girls as Chiyoki made the shopping list.

Naruto burst out the door at on the last flight of stairs, blinking out at the bright day and taking in a breath of fresh, clean air…. Before coughing at the realization it wasn't as clean as she had thought.

"Blegh…" Naruto muttered, covering her slightly more sensitive nose. It was one of the bonus features she had found out about her newfound Anima genes that she wasn't sure she liked too much. "This air smells like… like…"

"Gas." Sasuke came out behind her, his nose wrinkled distastefully. He looked up at the sky which was clouded with gray and white clouds. "It explains all the pollution here." He said. He shook his head and turned right, letting Naruto catch up by herself.

The street was full of life, people moving back and forth, all with purposeful strides. The throng, never seemed to thin out in front of all the musty, bleak gray colored buildings. The street was a blackish color, shrouded with dirt from the people who walked in and alongside it. Naruto couldn't keep her eyes off the people.

Everyone in this city seemed to be different, but no one minded. Naruto spotted a man, his skin as black as night walking along, looking normal enough until he opened his mouth to show off a set of sharpened teeth, with two, long and razor thin fangs that popped out when he laughed. When Naruto looked closer, she realized his black skin was actually dark scales that moved like water around him. She shivered, and stayed closer to Sasuke who seemed to be ignoring everything.

"Left…" He muttered, turning at the corner and taking out the list again. Naruto openly stared as a woman passed by, her hair varying shades of red, blue and yellow, and the set of scarlet and blue wings that flapped softly on her back. Naruto had the urge to reach out and see if the feathers were just as soft as they looked.

"There. Benrina Bumon. Just like Chiyoki-sama said." Sasuke looked up at the faded blue sign above the six swinging doors that people rushed in and out of. Setting his teeth, Sasuke strode towards the doors and pushed his way through with Naruto scurrying along behind him.

"Whoa…" Naruto slowed as she looked up at the towering ceilings. The store had everything, from food to hardware, and it lined every aisle in towering stockades that reached to the ceiling. Huge, bright white light hung from chains in the ceiling, and everywhere, people bustled, looking like ants amid towers. "She expects us to find stuff in here?"

Sasuke hushed her and looked at the first thing in the list; Reito Uni. Sasuke looked up at the aisles and saw signs at the corner of each, reading along the line until he found frozen sea food.

"Naruto." He beckoned and headed towards it. This shouldn't be too difficult.

It was. There were two long aisles of seafood, and seven different types of Uni to get, none of them with prices or price tags. When Sasuke finally settled for a oversized package (He was sure Chiyoki housed a lot of people), Naruto peeked over his shoulder.

"Frozen Sea Urchin? What would she want that stuff for?" Naruto asked, before speeding off, content with Sasuke's silent answer. She pressed her face to the glass, watching as her breath fogged it up. Sasuke rolled his eyes, his ears twitching, slightly irritated at her lack of reaction to her own question. He looked down at the list and sighed. One down, two more pages to go.

He was going to need a cart.

Mountains of food, and hours of complaint from Naruto led Sasuke to the bread aisle. He was sure he had never seen so much bread in his life as he looked at row upon row of neatly packaged loaves of bread. The list said that he was supposed to look for Aunt Onigiri's Red Whole Wheat Bread. And get four loaves of it.

"Sasuke!" Naruto hissed, she was pressed to the corner of the aisle, peeking around the corner, and letting her red and gold colored tail flick at the tip. She glanced over at him. "C'mere!" Sasuke sighed, leaving the cart where it was and praying no one took it.

"What?" He asked in an exasperated tone. Naruto held a finger to her lips and motioned for Sasuke to stay quiet. Out of curiousity, Sasuke did so and leaned back to where Naruto was.

She was listening to two men talk. One was tall, with shoulder-length sandy brown hair, his eyes gold and slitted. His skin had a strange sheen to it, the Sasuke could see through the spaces in the bread stacks. The other had dark brown hair, with strange black marking that crossed over his forehead and down his cheekbones, making his skin seem paler than it was and giving his eyes a sunken in look. Naruto was listening to the coversation intently, her eyes nearly crossing with the concentration. Sasuke tried not to laugh.

"-doing here?" Face-Markings said. The other shrugged.

"Probably out of towners, looking to stir up trouble. The Kaisatsu will catch them soon enough." Sasuke shot a glance at Naruto asking a silent question.

_This about us? _He asked, raising and eyebrow and using hand signals he had learned in Anbu training to get his message across. Naruto looked at him and nodded once.

"Well, whoever they are, they don't make a dent in the strange things that have been happening recently. Did you know scientists finally figured out that we used to have four seasons?" Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. They didn't have four seasons?

"Four?" Shiny skin asked, crossing his arms. "Weird. Was that the start of GMA testing?" Face-Markings nodded.

"A little after the start, they found that they were just starting to have weather problems. Strange isn't it?" He shook his head. "I can't imagine having four seasons. All that changing weather must have drove them crazy." He mused quietly. Naruto tugged on Sasuke's sleeve, motioning that they had said more as well, and that she would tell him later. Sasuke looked back and found that Face-Marking and Shiny Skin were both moving away, still talking about the 'Strange things recently."

"They don't have four seasons?" Naruto asked, standing up straight again. "Weird." Sasuke agreed silently, spotted the bread he was looking for and snatched the loaves he needed.

"They also said something about GMOs…. What are GMO's?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke and following him back to the card. Sasuke shrugged. Hell if he knew. This new world was strange. "What's the Kaisatsu? A person? They sound dangerous…" Naruto kept babbling, following Sasuke along as he half listened to her and half went back over the list to see if he had missed anything.

"I guess we check out here." Sasuke said, cutting Naruto off midsentence. He stopped and looked at the cart with a frown. How was he supposed to pay for this?

"I think we use the cards Chiyoki Baa-chan gave us." Naruto said and Sasuke realized he had spoken out loud. He nodded and reached into his pocket for his, running the pad of his thumb over the surface.

"Well, here goes nothing." He said. If they were wrong, someone would be suspicious and they'd be found out. He hoped Naruto's guess was right.

Sasuke rolled the cart down an aisle that had a bored looking girl sitting at the end, popping purple gum in her mouth repeatedly. Sasuke saw the other customers loading everything onto a moving conveyer belt that went through a tunnel. Apprehensivly, he started shifting things on. Naruto caught on, unloading things at a faster pace. Rolling his eyes at the girl's eagerness, Sasuke eased around the side of the cart to the girl.

She held out her hand, not looking up from her magazine, and still popping her gum. Sasuke gave her the card and she looked at it quickly, her eyes widening. She turned them, to Sasuke, a question in her brown eyes. Sasuke could see two small horns poking through her thick, wavy brown hair.

"Staying at Chiyoki's?" She asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah." He said. The girl eyed him up and down, almost as if he were a piece of meat and her lids lowered.

"I like your accent." She said, her voice slightly rougher than before as she ran the card through a slot in the machine.

"We're from out of town." Sasuke replied. The girl handed the card back to him, her face darkening as the 'we.'

"You with that girl?" She asked, suspicious.

"Yes."

"I mean _with _with her." The girl clarified. Sasuke hesitated. He sensed a trap coming on.

"No." He said after a second. The girl perked noticeably at the fact and the predatory gleam was back in her eyes.

"That's good. You're way to good for her." She handed Sasuke the slip of paper that had printed, but as he reached for it, she held on longer. "Just right for me though." She said quietly, the corner of her mouth turned up slightly. Sasuke looked at her. She couldn't think of a better pick-up line?

"I'll keep that in mind." Sasuke pulled the sheet away from her unresisting fingers, keeping his face under an emotionless mask.

"Sasuke!" Naruto had already reloaded the cart, overflowing with groceries and was wheeling it away, her small frame looking dwarfed next to it.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Sasuke muttered. For once, he was glad of Naruto's boundless energy. He didn't need to be followed by girls in this life, as he had been in the past.

* * *

**Sorry for any mistakes in here, but i'm too lazy to edit. Criticize me. I enjoy it.**

**I was gonna say something else here, but i forgot. Oh well. **

**R&R!**

* * *

**Here's a conversation me and my friend had in History class (on my homework i might add). We laughed. My teacher laughed too.**

**BTW, She was trying to get me to give her 2$ (which i did... eventually), through the whole thing.**

**PS, It's entirely in spanish XD. (Translations in Italics.) 'Skyye'= Me. 'Syd'= My friend.**

**AHEM.**

**Syd: $ por favor _Syd: $ please._**

**Skyye: No se******_**Skyye: Don't know.**_

**Syd: por favor senorita _Syd: Please, miss._**

**Skyye: Yo no estoy senorita. Estoy Senor._Skyye: I'm not a miss. I'm a mister._**

**Syd: Oh. Yo no se.__**** Syd: Oh. I didn't know.**

**Skyye: Jajajaja!__**** Skyye: Hahahaha!**

**Syd: Yo quiero moneda por favor******_****** Syd: I want money please**_

**Skyye: Yo no se. Yo no se.__**** Skyye: I don't know, I don't know.**

**Syd: ?Tu Hablas Espanol?******_****** Syd: You speak spanish?**_

**Skyye: Si __**** Skyye: Yes**

**Syd: Moneda por favor para chocolate calor, y pop tarts. _Syd: Money please for hot chocolate and pop tarts_**

**Skyye: Yo no se __**** Skyye: I don't know.**

**Syd: Tu es un ___**** Syd: You are a _.**

**Skyye: Yo no se .__**** Skyye: I don't know .**

**Syd: Tu es Estupido__**** Syd: You are stupid**

**Skyye: To es muy tonto__**** Skyye: You are annoying.**

**Syd:Tu es antipatico__**** Syd: You're mean.**

**Skyye: Yo se.__**** Skyye: I know.**

**Syd: Moneda por favor para Chocolate calor y Pop Tarts! _Syd: Money please for hot chocolate and pop tarts! You speak spanish?_**

** Tu hablas espanol? **

**Skyye: Si, y Si. Yo no se.__**** Skyye: Yes, and Yes. I don't know.**

**Syd: Tu es muy estupida y antipatica.__**** Syd: You are very stupid and mean.**

**Skyye: Y tu.__**** Skyye: And you.**

**Syd: Yo tengo hambre.__**** Syd: I'm hungry.**

**Skyye: Yo Se. Congratulacciones.__**** Skyye: I know. Congratulations.**

**Syd: Moneda por favor? Si o No?__**** Syd: Money please? Yes or no?**

**Skyye: ... o.__**** Skyye: ... or.**

**Syd: Hay caramba! __**** Syd: Hell no!**

**Skyye: Yo no se.__**** Skyye: I don't know.**

**Syd: Si, No?__**** Syd: Yes, no?**

**Skyye: Sino. Yo no se.__**** Skyye: Yesno. I don't know.**

******Just so you know, i actually did know what she was saying, i just wanted to piss the hell out of her. I worked XDD. My History teacher, Mr. Zambito ( we call him Beebee for short), laughed when he read it (he knows spanish). My spanish teacher hates me, so i didn't bother showing her XD.**

******Sorry if things were misspelled.**

**OH! AND, i am in fact a girl. even though i said i was a guy. (I got C cup boobs if you want to check. No way these can be faked!)**

**Yay, for totally pointless conversations!**

******R&R!**


	7. To Omou

**So it's my birthday month! Yay. I just realized i forgot to do spellcheck, but it's 11:00pm here and i have to get up at 5:00am, so i'm not going to fix it right now. If it's super bad, i will have to rewrite it. (Tell me if it's totally god-awful XD). **

**I am a bad author. I realize i have totally been neglecting my other stories. To those of you who read those and are reading this right now, I give my apologies. I'm too tired to think of excuses XD.**

**Nyahahaha. I'm cool like that.**

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Naruto chattered the entire way back to Chiyoki's house, her arms full of the groceries she and Sasuke had bought. She knew Sasuke's attention to her words fluctuated, but that didn't matter so much. The conversation was mainly to distract herself from the jumble of feelings that were swirling in her head.

It was weird, seeing that girl flirt with Sasuke like that. It shouldn't be unusual, considering it had always been like that. Girls tended to flock to him, and the most Naruto would notice about it was the fact that when she had been a guy, she didn't have those qualities. But now, it was almost… almost as if she were _angry _at the girl for hitting on Sasuke when he wasn't even interested.

It was a strange feeling.

Naruto's voice faltered as she realized what she had just thought. Pressing her lips in a tight line, Naruto readjusted the bags in her arms, ignoring the slight sting as one of the bags cut into the skin of her elbow slightly with the weight.

"What's wrong, dobe?" Naruto looked up. Her sudden silence finally had caught Sasuke's attention. He was looking down at her with flat black eyes, a smirk twitching slightly at the corner of his mouth. Naruto gaped up at him, unsure of what to say.

"Cat got your tongue?" He asked dryly. Naruto looked at his ears, then at his tail before meeting his eyes with a raised eyebrow.

Sasuke's jaw muscle twitched, but he managed to keep his smirk, even if his eyes had a slightly embarrassed look in them. "Not like that, idiot." Naruto cackled at his awkwardness. It was refreshing to one up Sasuke for once.

Naruto continued her chatter the rest of this way, not stopping until Akemi opened the door to usher them to the kitchen.

"Oh you good. You're back. Now you can help with the cooking." Chiyoki said when she saw Naruto. Naruto gave a horrified glance at Sasuke who had his smirk back. His look obviously said, _This is payback for earlier. _

Naruto stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now you!" Chiyoki waggled a finger at Sasuke. "Get out! I'm an old woman, and I like things done the old fashioned way." She waved her hands at Sasuke, and silently, he left.

"Cooking?" Naruto hissed to Sakura who was kneading a cream colored mess with a look of contentment. "I can't cook! I'm a guy!"

"Don't be sexist. You're a girl now, and most girls know how to cook." Sakura replied with a dithering glance at Naruto, her hands working quickly.

"How's the bread going?" Chiyoki asked, coming up behind the girls. Naruto jumped.

"Fine, but it still needs more kneading." Sakura replied, smiling at the old woman.

"Ah, good, good." She said and clapped her hands together. "Let's let Naruto continue that, while we get started on the main dish!"

Naruto nearly died right then and there. She didn't even know what kneading was.

Sakura though, did. And apparently found it in her heart to be sympathetic.

"Sure, just give me a sec," Chiyoki nodded walking away to unpack the groceries.

"Kneading is easy." Sakura whispered. "Just keep rolling and pushing the dough just like this." She demonstrated quietly.

"That's bread? If I knew it was so gross before the being done, I'd never eat it." Naruto whispered back. Sakura replied by using her semi-clean wrist to cuff Naruto on the back of her head.

"Be serious! Use flower every once in a while, and just keep rolling for a while until it's nice and gummy."

"Sticky?"

"Thick."

"That's what she said."

Naruto earned herself another cuff on the head.

"Sakura!" Chiyoki called.

"Try not to mess up too badly." Sakura said before rushing off to help Chiyoki. Naruto eyed the so-called 'Bread,' suspiciously, before trying to copy what Sakura had been doing. She tried not to shiver at it's squishy texture, before setting to work.

Kneading bread was a lot harder than it looked, and Naruto's wrists got tired quickly, unused to the new uses for them. No wonder Sakura had always been so strong. Finally, the bread came to a gummy-like texture, firm but soft.

"Now what do I do?" She asked, holding out her sticky hands over the bread. She looked imploringly at Sakura who was cutting and chopping with Akemi while Chiyoki and some other, older girl worked over the stove. Sakura excused herself and looked over Naruto's work with a critical eye before taking over.

Seeing her chance, Naruto, quietly tried to slip away. She saw Sakura and Akemi look at her, Sakura with a mock look of stern annoyance that was ruined by her smile, and Akemi with a little frown.

Neither of them stopped her though.

Naruto breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she slipped outside and began to pad her way down the hall. The silence was strange. She didn't remember anything about when she had been shot and carried in, except a warmth that surrounded her, and constant white noise. Now… it was as if the place was a ghost house.

She realized after a second, was that part of it was the silence in her own steps. It was a requirement as a ninja to walk quietly, but Naruto had never been very good at it. Now, as she stared at her own feet, there was an eerie quietness when she walked, each foot placed exactly in front of the other. She focused on checking rooms to find where Sasuke went. He needed a good beating for abandoning her to the kitchen like that.

There were mutterings behind one of the doors. It sounded two or three people, all talking together, their voices light and happy. Naruto jumped when one of them laughed loudly and moved on.

She finally found the one she had woken up in with Sasuke, but he wasn't there. Instead, a pile of clothes sat on the bed. Naruto looked at her bloodied shirt and jacket, and then at her pants that were covered in who knows what and scattered with scratches. She decided not to complain about the lack of orange, and just get dressed.

The pile consisted of a pair of khaki colored cargo pants that were loose around her waist, hanging off her hips at where her tail joined her body, and a black T-shirt that was slightly small on her, squeezing her chest and riding up slightly when she moved. Someone had also thoughtfully added in a pair of panties and a bra. Naruto slipped them on quickly, hoping not to be discovered if Sasuke walked in. It was one thing changing in front of him as a guy (which he had never been comfortable with), but as a girl, is was just….

Naruto shivered, and there was a resounding thump from overhead, She looked up at the ceiling, and there was an indignant yell from the laughter room down the hallway. Naruto looked out of the room, tuning in her ears at the smaller thumps and grunts that seemed to be emanating from down a stairwell at the end of the hallway.

She crept towards it and peered up, stepping lightly on the old metal stairs. The sounds were definitely getting louder now. When she reached the top, she nearly choked in disbelief.

She was in a giant room, with padded grey floors and walls, a dummy propped against a corner and some barbells against a wall. The opposite wall was covered in mirrors from ceiling to floor. It appeared to be some sort of training room.

In the center, Sasuke was sparring. Well, that wasn't unusual, since he loved fighting. But he was sparring against someone he didn't even know. A guy with hair so blonde it was nearly white and darkly tanned skin. His neck was covered in flat, plate-like scales that blended easily into his skin, and made a whispering noise as he moved. But the guy was keeping up with Sasuke. Almost easily.

Keyword: Almost.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked out loud. The guy looked over for a split second and Sasuke leapt in, knocking the guy off his feet and placing a fist at his throat.

The guy stared at him, and Sasuke dropped his fist, replacing it with a hand to help the guy up. "What do you need, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, I was downstairs, and then there are giant thumps. Do you want me to think that's normal?" Naruto asked and folded her arms over her chest. Sasuke blinked at her. "And how come you couldn't beat Whitey?"

"Whitey?" The guy muttered.

"His name is Tsuru." Sasuke replied. Naruto looked 'Tsuru' up and down.

"Nah. He looks like a Whitey." Tsuru gave a growl-hiss noise that gurgled in the back of his throat.

"What do you need?" Sasuke asked with a sigh.

"To kick your ass."

"Payback for the kitchen?"

"Hell yes."

Sasuke gave another sigh and moved to the center of the floor. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. Tsuru spluttered.

"But- But she's a girl!" He said, holding his hands out. Sasuke tossed him a warning glance and Naruto pushed past him.

"And your and albino dick who needs to get out of my way." She stood across from Sasuke. When Tsuru didn't move, Naruto waved her hand in his direction. "Go on. Shoo." Tsuru glared, but moved to lean against one of the walls.

"Heads up. No jutsus work here." Sasuke said. Naruto hung her head.

"Come on! So, taijutsu only?" She whined. Sasuke nodded and took fighting stance. Naruto copied, leaning into her owns style easily.

In a flash, they were off. Sasuke moved to the side before rushing in. Naruto stepped back quickly, meeting his roundhouse quick with both of her arms, held up in front of her chest. She felt her injured arm far and tried not to gasp. She had nearly forgotten about it. Naruto quickly ducked down and swung her leg out, hoping to catch Sasuke by surprise. He jumped back and Naruto aimed a fist at his throat. It would make him gasp and possibly knock him out.

At the last second, she slowed. She didn't want to win that easily. Sasuke used the time and knocked her hand away, following through with his own, open-palmed fist. Naruto gasped as it hit her square in the chest. She gave a sideways smile.

"Learn that one from Neji?" She asked as she ducked his other fist that followed and rapped out three sharp jabs to his right thigh. His leg jerked and they both pulled away.

Sasuke smirked. "Learn that one from Hinata?"

"Touche." Naruto replied. She feinted left and darted in toward his left side. He had always been especially jerked about the left side of his ribcage, after getting nailed there with kunai while he had broken ribs. It had the desired effect and Sasuke's eyes grew wide and he blocked his side. Naruto went of his opposite shoulder and hit his collarbone, not hard enough to break, but hard enough to make him wince. She backed up again quickly as his arm swung out, a hairs-breadth from her throat.

"Dirty trick." He hissed at her. Naruto beamed at him.

"You use them on me all the time." She giggled. She was caught of guard when his fist slammed into her injured shoulder. Naruto cried out in pain, her hand flying to her shoulder and clutching at the fabric there.

"What the fuck Sasuke!"

Sasuke shrugged. "An eye for an eye."

"Makes the whole world blind! Teme!" Naruto gasped out. She felt dampness and groaned internally. Now he had made it bleed again.

She was so gonna hit him for that.

With a feral growl, Naruto's ears flattened out and she tucked herself low to the ground, aiming for his kneecaps. Sasuke jumped up, twisting his body like a cat to whirl to the side. Naruto didn't stop, slideing underneath him and rolling on back. She beat her legs repeatedly on the underside of his back. She was rewarded with a grunt from Sasuke, who immediately stopped, mid-twist. What she didn't expect was him coming crashing down on top of her.

Naruto's breath left her in a giant whoosh and Sasuke rolled off of her. He leapt up for the finishing strike, but Naruto rolled again, pulling herself to her knees.

"That was so unfair." She huffed. Sasuke still had a smirk and his black eyes glinted, but he didn't respond. He went forward, feet hitting the floor with a rapid swiftness that made his form blur. Naruto knew what was coming next and when he was two feet in front of her, launched herself at him. She used Sasuke's shoulder like a bounce-board and propelled herself off of him, landing behind him. Sasuke twisted around and slammed her ribs with a flat hand. Naruto knew instinctively it would leave a bruise and snarled at him. She shot out a clawed hand and hit his cheek, leaving a slight scratch.

His next punch slammed her cheekbone, making her see stars. In an instant, she was sprawled on her back, staring up at Sasuke's madly grinning face as he huffed down at her.

"I win."

Naruto gave a cry of dismay. "Only because you cheated! You knew I got shot in that shoulder!"

Sasuke's face twisted slightly and he pulled himself back. "Well, you knew I didn't like people aiming to my left." He said and his mask fell back over her face. He held a hand out to her. Naruto sighed and took it gratefully, letting him pull her up.

"Well, it burned off some steam." She muttered and twisted her back, making it crackle and pop.

"Naruto. Your shoulder." Naruto looked back at Sasuke and saw his face paler than before. She looked down at her shoulder and groaned. Now this shirt was ruined as well.

The blood had soaked through it again. It didn't make her dizzy yet, but it sure looked ugly. "Damn it Sasuke…" She muttered and peeled the shirt away from her shoulder where it was sticking.

There was a sharp choking noise and both Naruto and Sasuke's heads snapped up. Crowded around the starewell, were a group of onlookers who were looking at them with awed gazes. Naruto didn't miss the one black head that dashed back down the stairs, hand over mouth. Tsuru had meanwhile lost his 'cool' attitude and had his golden-brown eyes bugging out of his head. Naruto gave herself a smirk. Served him right. Just because she was a girl now didn't mean she was any less good at fighting.

"Ahem." Naruto felt her self-satisfaction drain just like the color in her face as she recognized the voice. Sasuke, beside her, stiffened. "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Eh-he…" Naruto rubbed the back of her head self-conciously, trying not to shrink under Sakura's glare. "W-we were just-"

"Being idiots!" Sakura yelled the smacked Naruto upside the head and turned to Sasuke. She jabbed a finger into his chest. "And what was that I heard about hitting her shoulder? No wonder it's a sopping mess now! She needs to heal you idiot!" Sakura's wings shifted furiously behind her, and Sasuke's tail twitched, his ears flattening to blend into his hair.

"She started it." He muttered and looked away. Sasuke glared at him, then at Naruto, who winced. She gave a sigh, as if deflating.

"C'mon Naruto. Let's get you rebandaged." With one last glare, she led the way, not bothering to see if Naruto followed her.

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"Dude… who are you guys?" Sasuke blinked at Tsuru who had apparently recovered from his shock. After Sakura and Naruto had left, the little audience they had attracted had filtered away slowly. Now only three kids, all very young, were looking out at him between the stairwell bars with wide eyes. Sasuke ignored them and focused on Tsuru. He gave a shrug.

"Right now, I don't think we're all that sure either." He replied. His heart rate slowed to normal with his breathing. He felt bad about hitting Naruto like that, but he really was sensitive about that side. Those hits had left him unable to easily move for weeks. It was the worst sense of uselessness he had ever felt.

Tsuru gave him an odd look. "If you don't want to tell me, I understan-"

"We really don't know." Sasuke replied, with slightly more force this time. Tsuru fell silent, obviously taking the hint that Sasuke didn't want the matter pressed.

Truthfully, Sasuke didn't know how people would react if they actually knew. He didn't know if there were… rules of something. Silence was always best. He went to a punching bag that was suspended in a corner. He ignored the pang in his shoulder and began to rap out punches. Tsuru winced everytime Sasuke hit the bag with his fist.

"How can you do that with no gloves?" He asked. Sasuke didn't look away.

"Practice."

They lapsed into silence again, Tsuru watching awkwardly as Sasuke pounded the punching bag repeatedly.

"You have a strange fighting style." Tsuru commented. Sasuke grunted as if to say, _Well I wasn't taught the same way. _"You fight like you aren't used to your body or something." Sasuke stiffened mid-punch and dropped his hand. He didn't say anything, but instead looked at his hand, opening and closing it, watching as his arm muscles flexed. He flipped his hand over and looked at the slightly red knuckles from the leather.

"Did I say something wrong?" Tsuru asked. Sasuke looked at him, noticing his abnormally long and thin tongue, slightly forked at the tip. He gave a wry smile.

"No. Just gave me something to think about." Sasuke said. He nodded at Tsuru, and headed to the stairwell. He should look for Naruto and Sakura. They had some talking to do.

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**Tada. more explaining to be done in the next chapter! (With a group meeting called my Sasuke). **

**I started relabeling my chapters with one-word-descriptive titles. look 'em up. I'm too lazy to type it.**

**Questions to think about: **

**Who is Tsuru?**

**How will Sasuke plan to fix their problems?**

**Why was Naruto jealous of the girl in the market?**

**Why does Chiyoki have magical cards of doom?**

**What will Naruto do without her precious ramen? (you heard me. NO RAMEN. i do realize i'm evil)**

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**Funny story! So yesterday, my mom started flipping out for stupid reasons. I ended up siding with a neighbor because she was telling the truth, not my mom, and mom called me disloyal. so when the neighbor left, mom yells at me again, and nearly hits me.**

**the only reason she didn't is because my badass boyfriend was standing right there.**

**LET'S GIVE THREE CHEERS TO THE BADASS BOYFRIEND! WOOOO!**

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**_Playlist i listened to while writing this_ (if you even care):**

**Nobel Son (remix) - Revier Clan ft RTPN**

**Prelude 12/21 - AFI**

**Jar of Hearts (Hip Hop Remix) - Christina Perri**

**Touchin on My - 3oh!3**

**Loves Me Not -Tatu**

**Lollipop - Framin Hanley**

**Tonight - BigBang**

**Ride to California - Paper Tongues**

_** This list brought to you by My Totally Awesome Taste in Music (aka MTATM)**_


	8. Nazo

**It's kind of short, and it's also out kind of quick. So pros and cons with this update XD. I was just in a serious writing mood, and i probably should have been working on one of my other stories, but oh well.**

**I guess my updating paces are kind of strange... -.-' i don't regulate them. - that sounds weird...**

**ANYWHOOOOOO (whooo whooo... I'm an owlllll... whooooo...)**

**Thank you for all the amazing review i got! i got a couple of funny stories (Thank you ScurryFunger) and a lot of helpful advice (Seta () ). And even though i don't answer all the time, i read every review i get! Thank you so so sooooooo much.**

**Enjoy the story!**

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"What were you thinking?" Sakura asked as she jabbed a wad of cotton at Naruto's shoulder. Naruto winced as the hydrogen peroxide bit into the hole in her shoulder. After a request to Chiyoki, Sakura had received a first aid kit that she made quick use of on Naruto. She was furiously scrubbing away the blood that had seeped and cracked along Naruto's skin.

"You know that whenever you and Sasuke fight, someone is bound to get hurt. You know, when I let you leave the kitchen, I didn't imagine you would go and do this! God, how stupid can you two get? Anywhere we go! I knew Tsuru would-"

"You know Whitey?" Naruto interrupted. Sakura changed cotton balls, rubbing swiftly and cleanly like her training had taught her to.

"I met him earlier while you two were gone." She replied. "And his name is Tsuru. Not Whitey. Get it right." Naruto made a face.

She stayed still as Sakura bandaged her shoulder again, looking around the room. It was apparently the room Sakura had stayed the night in, virtually the same as hers and Sasuke's, except with dark gold colored walls and dark red sheets on the bed. The sheets were slightly rumpled, but remade neatly, not to conceal it's use, but to show the room was being used. Naruto saw why as she spotted five curious faces examining them from the doorway.

Naruto smiled at them, and one of the girls, not more than five years old ducked her face down, a blush on her pale white features, her small, reddish brown wings, graced lightly with down, fluttering. The oldest of the group, a ten-year-old looking boy with tiny horns poking through a mop of curly hair on his head stepped forward.

"Why were you fighting?" He asked in a slightly squeaky voice. Naruto beamed at him.

"Well, Sasuke – the tall guy- was being mean to me earlier." She said.

"That's not nice." A second girl with a tumble of tightly coiled black hair in two pigtails that stuck out from her head said. A short, black tail paired with low-hanging ears embellished her small figure. Naruto gave a short laugh.

"Well, sometimes he's nice, but you'd never know it!" She replied. The girl smiled, walking into the room while the boy glowered, mad about being upstaged by someone younger than him. He followed quickly, pulling himself up onto the bed nect to Sakura and Naruto.

"You fight funny. Better the Tsuru nee-san." He stated. Naruto tipped her head to the side and Sakura prodded a finger at her bruised ribs, making her straighten again.

"What's your name?"

"Futoji!" He stated proudly with a wide grin.

"What's so funny about our fighting?" Sakura asked the question instead of Naruto this time, obviously just as curious as her teammate. Futoji's brows furrowed as he thought.

"Um…"

"You do spinny things!" The girl with small wings said. She seemed to realize she had said it outloud and quickly ducked her head again, hiding behind the doorframe. Naruto gave her her most inviting face, motioning her closer. Timidly, the girl inched closer.

"What's your name, sweety?" She asked quietly, holding out a hand. The girl took it with one of her small ones.

"Suki." She said and came closer, chewing on the top of her thumb tenderly.

"My name's Chui!" The girl with the black, floppy ears said and jumped up on the bed. "You do fight funny! You don't use your tails!" She said. Soon the other two children from the doorway were up on the bed happily, their earlier hesitation gone. Suki was sitting on Naruto's lap, cradled between the larger girl's legs and Naruto ran a hand over her smooth, copper colored hair.

"I thought you were cool!" Daiki, a boy with reddish-brown skin and woody brown hair, said. He had a spattering of freckles across his nose, two oval shaped ears, and a strong, thick tail that he leaned back on. Emi, who seemed to not want to say anything said. She had a pair of cream-colored rabbit ears and a small, fluffy tail.

"When Tsuru and Hana teach us, they say use the gifts you were given." Chui stated studiously. "But they never have time to teach us anymore," She puffed her lower lip out moodily and Futoji nodded as if he understood.

Naruto looked at Sakura silently asking if she knew Hana. Sakura raised her eyebrows and shrugged, shaking her head. More people. This place had a lot of them apparently.

There was a knock, and everyone looked up to see an awkward looking Sasuke standing there, looking in on the little room party. He gave Naruto and Sakura a serious look when he knew he had their attention. Sakura nodded, putting away her kit. Naruto turned to the kids.

"I need to have a conversation with mean Mister Kitty, okay?" She said. "So run along now." A few of the children gave little groans, sliding off the bed and trailing away. Suki, on her way out the door looked up at the tall, formidable figure of Sasuke as she passed. With tiny fingers, she tugged on his pant leg and smiled, showing off a missing front tooth.

"I don't think Mister Kitty's mean." She said. Sasuke nodded, unsure of what else to do. Satisfied, Suki left.

"Pfft…" Naruto said and Sasuke turned to glare at her while Sakura covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh. "It looks like brave Mister Kitty doesn't know how to deal with kids." Sasuke's glare sharpened and his cheeks reddened slightly.

"I'll kill you for giving me that nickname." He muttered and stepped fully inside, shutting the door behind him.

"What the hell did you do to your hands?" Sakura yelled and Sasuke winced and looked down as if noticing them for the first time.

"The punching bag and I had a disagreement." He said drily.

Naruto guffawed. "Sasuke cracking jokes! This day keeps getting better!" Sasuke was giving her a full blown death-glare now, his black eyes attempting to bore holes into her laughing figure. Then he seemed to notice she was still shirtless.

He coughed and looked away. "Shirt, dobe."

"Put on a shirt, you idiot!" Sakura yelled. Naruto jumped up, he brush tail puffed out as she scrambled for the second donated shirt she had received.

"So, what did you need?" Naruto asked once she had tugged the shirt over her head.

"We need to talk about fitting in. A girl at the store noticed my accent-" Naruto felt a twinge as she remembered the flirting cash register woman. "- and Tsuru noticed our strange fighting styles."

Sakura nodded. "So did the little kids. If they noticed it, other people are bound to."

"So, we just don't fight." Naruto stated simply, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing her legs. "We don't really need to anymore, anyway."

"Remember the guy from before? Right before we… crossed over?" Sasuke reprimanded. Sakura shuddered as she remembered all that blood and the fading, glassy-eyed looks of Sasuke and Naruto as they slowly bled out. "He said we would need to defeat him. We can't defeat him if we don't keep our fighting skills up."

"Maybe there's a way to defeat him without fighting?" Sakura offered. Naruto shook her head.

"It's like when I fought Pein and Madara. They're just people who don't go down without fighting. Neither will this guy." Naruto said.

"What if we sat in on one of the lessons those kids were talking about?" Sakura mused. Sasuke gave her a questioning look. "The kids from before said they thought your fight was cool and that Tsuru and someone named Hana didn't have time to teach them about fighting anymore." She explained.

"So, if we get Tsuru to teach them again, we can pull a Kakashi copy-cat and adopt the style!" Naruto said happily, her face brightening.

"That still leaves the problem of our accent and behaviour." Sasuke said. "We'll need to learn some culture things as well, so we don't stick out."

"Normal Anbu infiltration. We can nail that easily." Naruto said.

"Without chakra? Sasuke can't use his Sharingan, you can't use the kyuubi's chakra, and I can't use my healing chakra to fix our mistakes!" Sakura pointed out. "It will be twice as hard as Anbu training."

Naruto nodded and went back to her frustrated look, examining the door thoroughly.

"We just need to watch others and blend in as best as possible until we nail it. We can meet at night to share findings." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded and Sakura gasped.

"Shoot! I have to get back to the kitchen!" She said, and in a flurry, scurried out of the room. Sasuke sighed.

"I'll go find Tsuru again." He said and left in the opposite direction.

"H-hey! Wait! What am I supposed to do?" Naruto yelled. In the room across the hall, the door inched open and five familiar faces peeped out, along with two new ones. Naruto smiled.

"I guess I can hang with you guys for now," She concluded and got up, making the children giggle furiously.

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**Yeah. It was short. 1,500 words... -.- dismal. i suck. (and swallow, but thats beside the point XD)**

**It was mostly explaining and background stuff... more problems to solve, sorting out the kinks in the new world. I think i'll put a time skip next chapter, get things moving a bit faster... i don't know yet. **

**If i plan these stories, they never end up getting done... they kind of... flop. **

**BTW! I was reading over my last chapter, and the spelling is... i'm dissappointed in myself. -.- ehhhh... i might have to reupload it. just so i don't torment myself in my sleep over it XDD.**

**Hope you enjoyed the story! R&R!**


	9. Kanso

**I feel like i haven't been on here in forever... haven't checked mail or anything... *facepalm* FAIL.**

**I decided i would do the time skip. Just to pick up the pace and stuff... I think this fixes a lot of confusion, but the pace is still slow... Well, it'll work itself out. Hopefully...**

**This is mainly describing background. Whats going on, how people are so strange there and how society works. No, i am not straying away from the original intention of the story, as described in the prolouge... (I hate when stories do that -.-) It's just that in real life, people don't stare at one problem in the face all day. They have other stuff to do, so this is Naruto, Sakura (i want to kill her off so badly...), and Sasuke's 'other stuff to do.' Which includes strange happenings.**

**I'm officially rambling...**

**Just read the story.**

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A month seemed to go very quickly, everyday packed with new things to learn, more traditions to absorb, more habits to memorize. Each night, the former team 7 met in Naruto's new, separate room (it had been deemed unfit for her and Sasuke to share a room). There they would share their findings, learn from each other, then sneak upstairs to the Loft, as it was called, to practice.

The Loft was a recreation center for the entire household, which consisted to eighteen people, not including the people who dropped by from time to time. Chiyoki's house was, apparently, a stronghold for the city's refugees; orphans, homeless, and abandoned people with nowhere to go. Most of the residents were young.

The twins, Mio and Ryo (both fourteen), were geniuses. Architects per se, with a certain technical twinge that inspired them to rewire the whole house. Every room was soundproofed, insulated, and screened by their technology. Mio, the elder twin, was a girl with sun blonde hair that was close to Naruto's color, only a few shades lighter, and gold-brown eyes, had round-tipped ears that donned black spots. She had a long tail that brushed the ground behind her and puffed out at the end, also covered in spots. Her look-alike, Ryo, had the same color hair, but cropped short instead of hanging at his shoulders like his sisters. His eyes were slightly lighter, with green flecks in them. His ears were black, with a single white spot in the center, making it seem as if eyes were staring out from behind him. His tail was a more rusty colored blonde and covered in black bands along it's length. Together, they could hack any computer, open any door, and spy on any person in the city. Sasuke had found that out when he walked into their room by accident and found them watching Naruto as she failed miserably at making spaghetti in the kitchen.

Tsuru was seventeen, and had a very mixed background. He had just showed up one day on the doorstep when he was twelve, looking lost and bewildered. When anyone had tried to come near him, he would show off trained reflexive skills that had the intruder lying wither facedown, or staring at a murderous and slightly scared boy. Not long after Hana had showed up in the same state, only a year older than Tsuru when she had arrived.

Hana was the equivalent of a shadow. Everything was dark. From her blue black hair that hung straight and flat down her back, to her black eyes and dark, black-brown skin. She had pointed black ears with a matching tail that hung down to the back of her knees. She was tall and ultra-thin, and she moved with the kind of wary grace that rivaled some of the best Anbu members. She never spoke a word.

True, Sakura had onetime heard her speak in hushed tones with Tsuru, but other than that, there was nothing.

Akemi had been staying with Chiyoki for as long as she could remember, with no recollection of any sort of family. When she was asked by a curious Naruto, she seemed to fold up inside of herself, shutting down completely and gaining a blank look in her eyes. Naruto left her alone after that.

Chiyoki took in kids off the street all the time. Sometimes, mildly worried parents would come throughout the day and take the child home with them. Sometimes, the child would stay for days before being picked up. A number of them stayed. But not only children came to Chiyoki's household, adults who seemed to harbor tender feelings for the homely woman would come. On a few occasions, someone from the much feared Buso-Ryoku, otherwise known as the Law Enforcers would stop by. When the BR, as they were nicknamed, came, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto hid. When Chiyoki had laughed at them and said as long as they were within her walls they wouldn't be harmed, Naruto had resolved to stay in plain view when another came by. The officer, a high ranking General of sorts, saw her immediately when he walked in the door and his mouth popped open, eyes bulging. Then he caught sight of Chiyoki's homely grin and the recognition surprise was wiped off his face. He didn't say anything and turned a blind eye to Naruto.

The BR were the Anbu of Shinrin, and could be deadly. Anyone on the streets when they came by would be punished severely, or in some cases, killed. BR members were all strong, with ample ranks that consisted of men and women. BR members were chosen by physical strength and mentality. They had to be unquestioning and loyal to the higher ups, the Goshana. They were harsh in punishments, and quick to seek out faults in their so-called system.

The system consisted of a ring of cities around a central metropolis. Shinrin was one of eighteen cities, and a regular sized one, renowned for its sneaky crime. As a result, Shinrin had some of the more advanced BR members constantly on watch. In each city, there was a central house, or Yashinau, which housed the Goshana. It was surrounded by opaque walls, allowing no sight on either side. Around the Yashinau, was Saisho ring, filled with the more wealthy people of the city, known as Up Worlders. Banme ring was the second ring, filled with moderately wealthy people. They were the Middays. The Sado ring was the third and last ring, the one where Chiyoki's house was situated in. It was filled with the poorest in the city, or the Down worlds. Everyone who struggled would live here, where everything was the cheapest, and the area was crowded. But when BR weren't patrolling, the streets were alive with a sense of bustle. Everywhere was crowded with people, small lean-to shops set up and dwarfed by towering buildings. And everywhere there was a sense of… kinship. The same need for survival, and the strong determination that held up the lowest class of the city and propelled them forward.

The entire city was surrounded in a glass dome. Essentially a cage, to keep others out. But Sasuke had to wonder, as he examined a nighttime city from the rooftops and looked at the dome above his head. It wasn't even noticeable if he hadn't already known it was there. Was the dome to keep things out, or to keep people in?

Another interesting fact was that the people of this world didn't always used to be like this. Human mutation had started years ago, when the rise of GMO, genetic mutational organisms was on the rise. It had started with food, ways to change it for the better, and had quickly moved to livestock.

When the plague came, GMO was utilized as a vaccine. The White Plague, a counter-part to a past Black Plague, was strange. When a victim was infected, he or she would become deathly pale. Soon, the hair would begin to bleach itself and fall out, leaving in its wake migraines and comas. If the victim survived the stress of that, he or she's eyes would begin to pale, and sight would fade, becoming a mass of white. Immobility followed, and then stomach sickness until the victim died. The lucky ones survived for up to three weeks. Others died within the first week of attack.

But strangely, no matter how exposed, animals were never affected by the disease. The GMO testing from previous years had already started to alter the normal human's DNA, changing it into either more vulnerable of more strong immunities. Scientists came up with the simple idea to build off the new changes in DNA and alter them to have the effects of animals. There were few side effects. One of which was a change in physical appearance. Ears and tails were common for mammal humans. Skin changes for amphibians and reptiles, and wings for birds.

The other one was that the change could only be made before birth. This proved difficult to get around, and as a result, in the rush of the Plague, governments all over the world made harsh decisions. Only the strongest of human kind were allowed to reproduce and have genetically modified children. These humans were kept sterile from the outside world, and treated like animals on a farm.

All other humans were left to nature's devices. If they were infected, they died. If they survived, their genes were examined, perfected, and strengthened. Their descendants became the all powerful Goshana.

What Sasuke found as the most ironic part of the story, was the fact that the strongest of humans were used as livestock for the survival of the human race, but in the end, the cast off humans became more powerful than the mutated humans.

Sasuke sighed, staring at the ceiling of his room as he reflected, running it through his head over and over. The story had become second nature to him, just like the movements and speech patterns of the natives who lived here. He considered it like part of his cover, protecting him while he was on mission.

At some point, he had come to the silent conclusion that this world wasn't all that bad though. Sure, it was messed up, and had seriously dark sides to it, but when he looked at the people around him, they were nice. Everyone seemed… connected, in a way that the Fire Country never had. There was always a sense of distance, a sense of loneliness that had been fixed when he came back with Naruto. The old seven teams had replaced what he felt he'd been missing, and when he, Naruto and Sakura when on the Anbu mission, he'd felt the loneliness come creeping back up on him.

Sasuke sat up. He definitely like this world better. Looking around, Sasuke eyed his personal room, slowly gathering the signs of constant life. When Chiyoki had said she suspected the three of them would be staying there for a while, he had repainted the walls a dark blue color that reminded him of the Uchiha manor back in Konoha; for homely purposes. He had accumulated a sufficient wardrobe from hand-me-downs, and the shopping sprees Sakura and Naruto had dragged him on. Naruto, since becoming a girl had found a newfound love for shopping, and Sakura was soaking up Naruto's glee at girly pass-times like a sponge. Sadly, that included them bringing him along for references.

Naruto seemed to be adjusting the best out of the three of them, which was a hard job considering she had had a gender-switch during it. She was always smiling, which wasn't anything new, but these smiles were lighter, and truly happier than any that Sasuke had seen in a long time. The children adored her, and even Tsuru (whom she still called 'Whitey'), had grudgingly smiled and enjoyed her banter with him. It was almost like Naruto and Kiba's relationship, the way they talked and joked. Tsuru had even started sparring with Naruto, adopting some of her skills while she learned his.

Sasuke had seen Tsuru and Hana sparring while Naruto watched on the sidelines, and was surprised to say the least. Not only did they both seem like experienced fighters, but also they reminded him slightly of Anbu. Hard-trained killers. On a slightly lower level than he and Naruto, but still. The way they moved was if it had been beaten into their muscles, or programmed into their minds how to do it. Naruto had tried teaching Hana one of her specialty moves; a roundhouse flying kick that came from the air; and no matter how hard Hana tried, she kept having trouble learning it. She ended up getting frustrated, not saying anything, but it was obvious from the small crease that formed between her eyebrows as she concentrated.

Sasuke thought that Naruto only picked up on the frustration from spending some much time with Sasuke's emotionless talks.

The funny thing was, that every time Hana would mess up, her eyes would narrow and her shoulders were tense. Like she was going to be hit or punished, or like a dog that knew it had done something wrong. It was like how Naruto had been as a child, always flinching away from too much contact, his bright smile faltering slightly.

Maybe that was why she was at home here. Hana and Tsuru moved like monsters, fast and deadly, with a programmed accuracy. Naruto was always regarded as a monster in the village. Maybe because the people here were so open, even to people like Hana and Tsuru, that Naruto felt more at home, without her guard constantly up. That was the one thing Sasuke had never understood, no matter their family similarities, or their friendship. It was that even being treated like the fox demon he had contained, even without family, even a small bit of the family-like love that Sasuke remembered, he had still pushed on. And now that he was a she, she still had the same happiness that was even accelerated.

Or maybe that was the reason she was so happy here. She had found people who acted like her, and had the same, quietly hidden backgrounds that haunted them, and turned their lives into harsh hells, full of memories. Maybe she was replacing him and Sakura, with Tsuru and Hana as her family.

Sasuke felt a sudden pang through his chest. If he and Sakura were being replaced, what would that make him to Naruto? Just another person? If anything, that hurt more that when she, then a he, had beaten him into the ground, just to bring him back. He had enjoyed the fight, a strange as it sounded. It had showed that despite all of his flaws, She had still loved him. Enough to nearly kill herself bringing him back. And when he was barely hanging onto consciousness, Sakura had been right there beside him, holding his hand and pouring her healing chakra into him through her hand. He remembered wondering, 'doesn't she know? Once I'm healed, I can leave again.'

But he didn't, which was the strangest of all. He had stayed with Naruto and Sakura. They and the other teams had become his family.

If Naruto wasn't his family anymore, what would he do?

Sasuke shook his head, startled out of his reverie by a sudden knocking on his door.

"Sasuke? Dinner's in ten." Naruto called through the door, her voice weightless and happy. Sasuke felt the same pang through his chest, making him want to curl into a ball and shrink away from her voice.

"Yeah." He called, hoping his voice didn't give away anything. He heard Naruto hesitate for a split second, and he could imagine her irritated face, trying to decipher any difference in his voice, before shrugging it off.

"Don't be late or Sakura will punch you again." She said and walked off. Her steps had become unnervingly silent, as had Sasuke's. Sakura's had stayed them same, but she seemed to walk higher, as if being suspended by the air. These were little differences that Sasuke wrote off as differences from the cross of their worlds.

Sasuke stood to put on a fresh pair of pants for dinner. Chiyoki was adamant about it. He knew Sakura had already changed, and probably forced Naruto to as well. Sasuke gave a sigh concealed in his head. He definitely wouldn't like if Naruto weren't part of his family anymore.

* * *

**And i'm leaving it on that note. Not forever, just a chapter ending. This whole chapter took a helluva lot of research to get facts and stuff right. Aside from the section on the White Plague and changing human's DNA, all the GMO stuff is true. It's actually turning into a serious problem, and it is altering people's genes unknowingly.**

**Did you know that in the american market, few of the 'natural' fruits or vegetables you find will be unaltered genetically?**

**Something to think about. I found that amazing. GO ORGANIC PEOPLE! And comment and rate... i like the little comments XD**

**Yeah. Reality with fiction. My favorite.**

**Peace X3**


	10. Mitsukeru

**I have to dedicate this chapter to all the people in Japan right now, and their families who are worried sick about them. This is also for all the people who have lost their lives in this crisis and to all the brave workers helping to try and clean the country as quickly as possible, and for keeping life moving. God bless them.**

**(And i'm not even religious.)**

**Geez... I've been watching footage of it all day... well, um... I'll try not to get all your spirits too down XD.**

**This is my latest chapter (well, duh) and its focusing on the internal group problems that they are having, etc etc. I don't really need to tell you about it. Just read.**

**Oh! but to those few of you flaming me, just stop. I don't even know what some of you mean... ('fail chika'? What is this? What did i fail at?)**

**But for the lovely person who oh so wonderfully pointed out that he/she thought that my 'GMO' facts were from 'Conspiracies-R-Us', I'd kindly enjoy it if you would send me a like to their sight. Conspiracies are actually very interesting XD.**

* * *

Naruto grinned madly as she dodged the fist that came flying at her face, using her flat palm to hit the skin of the inside elbow and bend the arm. Darting forward in one quick movement, Naruto used her already bent forearm to hit the neck and send her opponent crashing to the ground, a half-strangled gurgle on her lips.

Naruto smiled, holding her fist over Hana's sweating brow as they panted. The two of them had been at this for an hour now, and Naruto was starting to relish her burning muscles as she and Hana sweated for their meager victories. Fighting Hana was sort of like fighting Sasuke, only she was part dog, and instead of moving with the quiet grace Sasuke did, Hana seemed more dependent on strength, like Sakura. And considering that the both of them seemed to busy for her now, it was a nice change.

Naruto held her hand out and pulled Hana up to her feet, and the two moved apart for yet another round. Naruto felt herself go back to her thoughts as she went through the familiar motions of sparring.

Sasuke especially seemed to be on a tight fuse as of late. Every time he saw Naruto, he would get a hunted look in his eyes, and stalk away, to help with shopping, or be dragged off by the twins, Mio and Ryo, for advice on a new tool. It was strange, to be so alienated from them. In Konoha, the three of them were always on missions together, eating, sleeping and moving as a pack. As one. Now, it was as if trying to find quality time with each other was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Taking advantage of Naruto's distraction, Hana moved in, twisting her foot around Naruto's ankle to pull it away. Snapping to reality, Naruto tried to recover, but her slow reaction time ended up making her land hard on her back, arms still flailing for balance. Hana planted one foot on Naruto's chest, wiggling her toes slightly as a tiny smirk played with the corners of her mouth. Naruto gave a frustrated look, then beamed up at Hana.

In these sparring sessions, Naruto had found that while Hana was silent, rarely speaking more than a few words at a time, she wasn't as emotionless as the mask that Sasuke kept up constantly. She was just quiet, almost as if she were trying to hide from something, and that if she stayed still and quiet, it would pass her by.

Naruto, being fluent in Sasuke-ese, quickly adopted Hana's unspoken language.

"Unfair!" She yelled and rolled to the side, gripping Hana's foot and twisting it until the darker girl landed with a 'whoof!" beside Naruto. Naruto looked at her, trying to hold up her furious face, before she broke down laughing. Hana's shoulders shook with silent laughter, her eyes closed in mirth and her white teeth showing through her lips.

They stayed like that, even as their laughter died down, and looked up at the peeling paint on the ceiling. All of a sudden, Naruto turned on her side, propping her head on her hand and looking at Hana.

"What's it like, always being with Whitey?" She asked. Hana had figured out what Naruto's nickname for Tsuru was and had accepted it in stride. Now, she just gave Naruto a confused look.

"I mean, it's obvious you're closer to him than anyone else here, but I don't see anything in him accept for scales and his long tongue." Naruto shivered, memories of Orochimaru popping up, unwanted, in her mind.

Hana smiled. "It's like you and Sasuke, yes?" She asked. Hana had a nice voice, deep and warm, like honey oozing over rocks in the sun.

Naruto thought for a second and sat up fully, crossing her legs. "I don't know, he's a being a bastard as of late." She said. "He won't even tell me what I did to tick him off!" She sighed, exasperated and looked imploringly at Hana. "Does Whitey ever do that to you, or is Sasuke just an ass?"

Hana's eyes turned up at the corners, showing that she was very amused by this thought. "No. He tells me everything." She said quietly. "Maybe Sasuke is misunderstanding?"

Naruto shook her head furiously. "Misunderstanding what? I didn't do anything! Well, maybe it was because I asked him to try that sauce…" At the encouragement off Sakura, Naruto had been asked to make a dressing, using whatever she wanted. When she was done, Sasuke had been asked to try it, and after one mouthful, Sasuke's face took on a horror struck look before he promptly spat it out, his eyes tearing up.

Needless to say, Naruto tossed the dressing and left the cooking to Sakura and Akemi.

Hana's shoulders shook. She had remembered Naruto's outrage at Sasuke when he hadn't even said anything, just spat up the food. Naruto was not a cook evidently. "No, maybe something else?" She asked, trying to find other reasons.

"I don't know what else I did to piss him off." Naruto hung her head, dejected. "Maybe he just doesn't like me anymore…" She mumbled. Hana immediately felt guilty for not coming up with better suggestions.

"When Tsuru is quiet, like Sasuke, he usually won't say anything." She said, sitting next to Naruto and wrapping one of her strong arms around Naruto's small shoulders. "Then I have to ask him, or he keeps it bottled up. Bottling up bad things can hurt more than help." Naruto nodded. She definitely knew what that was like, remembering all those solitary years of being hated without knowing why, and with no one to ask.

"So, I should just ask Sasuke why the hell he's being an asshole?" Hana's eyes turned up at Naruto's choice of words, and she nodded, glad some of her advice was beneficial. Naruto took a deep breath, holding it in, then letting it out in one great whoosh. She sat up with a jump and pumped her fist in the air, determination scrawled across all of her features.

"Alright then! I just need to go find that bastard!" She yelled and began to stomp her way towards the stairs.

Her foot stopped short of the first step and, almost apologetically, she looked at Hana.

"Um…. Maybe just one more round of sparring. My muscles still feel… stiff."

Hana rolled her eyes, seeing right through Naruto's tactic. She still stood up and moved into fighting stance for the other girl though.

Sakura frowned over the pie filling she was making. Because there were so many people in this house, cooking was a daily constant, and seeing that she already knew how to, she, Akemi and Chiyoki spent most of the day in the kitchen, making food for the busy-bodies that went to a fro. The only meal everyone sat down together for was supper.

For supper, a huge, flat table was unfolded, lying low to the ground and everyone sat around it, sampling dishes from the food lined all along the center. Supper was also Chiyoki's favorite meal to cook, and she constantly searched for celebrations as an excuse to cook elaborate meals that took days of advance preparing to make.

But as Sakura fiddled with the mixture of the pie, she felt as if something was missing. She, Sasuke and Naruto were growing apart quickly. They rarely saw each other during the day, and their night meetings were drifting farther and farther apart. If they continued like this, they would never be the closely-knit team that they had once been.

Also, no matter how hard Sakura tried to forget, she couldn't get the image of the man, looking condescendingly down at her as her life faded, out of her head. He had said that they needed to find out what to do in this world, and to find a way to survive. Well, now that survival was down, they just needed to find out their purpose here.

Sakura's eyes scrunched, as she tasted the mixture. They flavor was sweet and rich, not something Sasuke would like, but Naruto would love it. Sakura still felt as if there was something missing from it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She tried to settle on adding more sugar.

It was those little things that they knew about each other, that made them a team. Knowing each other's weaknesses and strengths. It made them look for the same things in their enemies, picking them apart from the inside out until they could find the one weak spot that would hold their enemy down and keep them down. Now that they weren't as close, they would stop acting like a team, and if the man wanted them to take them down, they would need to act like a team.

Sakura tasted the mixture in her bowl again, still unsatisfied. She looked at the ingredients around her, trying to piece together the missing link that she needed to make it perfect. Suddenly, a wrinkled hand, freckled spotting it, reached around Sakura and took a dip at the edge splatters of batter. Chiyoki licked it thoughtfully, before turning to her cupboard and reaching inside. Triumphant, the woman pulled out a small bottle with a pale colored powder inside.

"It needs ginger. Just a finishing touch that pulls it all together." She said a flashed Sakura a missing tooth grin. Sakura looked apprehensively at the bottle before adding in a slight bit to her bowl and stirring it in, watching as the pale of the powder blended in to invisibility in the mix. She tasted again and felt the taste explode in her mouth. It was sweet and savory, with just the slight hint of ginger that held together it's richer qualities and enhanced them. She smiled at Chiyoki, showing her gratefulness only to find that the woman was already back to her own work.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Sakura's head and she gave a bright smile. She, Sasuke and Naruto needed to come back together, like the ingredients in the bowl, but they were missing one thing that kept the tastes from clashing. And Sakura had the perfect idea of what their ginger was going to be.

"Chiyoki Baa-chan?"

Chiyoki turned away from her place at the counter and gave Sakura a curious and inquiring glance, one eyebrow raised slightly.

"Do you have any weapons stores around here?"

"Sakura, where are we going?" Naruto asked as Sakura gripped her hand in a frighteningly tight grip and dragged her and Sasuke through the streets. When Sakura didn't answer, Naruto turned to Sasuke, as if asking whether he knew what was going on. He shrugged, then turned quickly away, how own hand entrapped in Sakura's. Naruto frowned and gave up. She wanted to ask Sasuke what was going on with him, but she didn't want to do it with Sakura around. She had found that while Sasuke would tell her things, he usually wouldn't tell Sakura, and if this was one of those things, then she didn't want Sakura around to mess it up.

"Here we are!" Sakura said and dropped Sasuke's and Naruto's hands. Sasuke rubbed his wrist with a slight grimace, and but Naruto just stared at the little, nearly hidden shop that Sakura had brought them to.

"No way…" She murmured, looking at the bright sign. It had a pitch black dragon coiled around a long sword, the only color on it's body being it's one, faded gold eye. Across the whole thing, the words 'Ryo no Su Weaponry' in gray letters.

"You found a weapons shop?" Sasuke asked incredulously. Sakura smiled, obviously pleased with herself and turned to the two of them, holding out cards.

"Here. I made Ryo make a few so we could get stuff here." She said. "They're permit cards, with money charges on them." She said, somewhat quieter. She planted her hands on her hips. "What do you think?"

Sasuke stared at her, then at the card in his hand, then back at Sakura. Naruto looked dumbstruck, and for a second, Sakura thought she had made a mistake. Maybe this wouldn't fix anything at all…

Suddenly, a blonde blur latched itself onto Sakura's side, squeezing the air from her lungs and make Sakura's ribs creak.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Naruto yelled. In an instant, she was off and inside the store. Sakura shook her head, glad that she had pleased at least one person. Then she looked back at Sasuke.

His slightly bug-eyed look was gone and he had started striding towards the shop entrance, but the slightly happy bounce in his step was enough to let Sakura know she had done well. Beaming inside, Sakura followed them inside.

"Ohmygod this is the best surprise ever!" Naruto was rubbing her face across the flat blade of a silver throwing knife, her eyes closed in bliss. "Oh, how I missed you, lovely killing instruments…" She murmured. Sasuke had immediately headed toward an aisle with throwing stars and shurikens in it, a similar look (or as close as he could get to one) on his face as he examined each one. Sakura herself went for the utility pouch section. She had always carried one as a medical ninja, and she missed the familiar feel of it around her waist.

Sasuke picked up a strange looking kunai knife, it's hilt decorated with what appeared to be a stylized falling star on it. He balanced it on one finger and frowned as it tilted slightly towards the hilt. If this was thrown, the design ridges would catch air, slowing it while the excess weight on the hilt would drag it off course.

He set the kunai down.

Sasuke had found several shuriken that suited his taste, but so far, the kunai he had been looking at were either off balance or highly decorated, not made for throwing. And while Sasuke still used kunai for hand-to-hand combat, he had found himself over the years halting his use of them for close range and only keeping them on hand for emergencies, and somehow, he didn't think his preference would change here.

Sasuke picked up another knife, weighing it carefully. It seemed moderately balanced, but when Sasuke tested the edge, he found that the blade was slightly dull and made of a weaker metal than he was used to.  
Sasuke froze when a glint caught his eye. He set the knife down and moved to where a long sword, slightly curved at the end, had caught his eye.

Sasuke barely dared to breathe as he picked it up. It was so much like his old sword, it was startling, but when Sasuke picked it up, he felt newer, less-used leather in his hand. Sasuke held it gingerly, studying that graceful, slow arc near its tip, and the unmarred, razor-sharp, nearly black blade that stretched past the length of his arm. The hilt that joined the blade and handle together was dark steel, fastened with a black knob. The actual handle was plain and black, slightly rectangular and wrapped in thin strips of leather for grip. At the end, a simple, engraved symbol, almost like a fan made of sisal leaves in it. Flipping it over, Sasuke found a Celtic knot, made of thin, wisp-like lines engraved on the other side, forming a star out of triangles.

Sasuke held out, feeling it's perfectly balanced weight fit perfectly in his hand. It was so familiar, working already as an extension of his arm even before he swung it into the deadly arcs he knew so well. Sasuke's arm practically ached to start into the patterns and rhythms he had practiced like a religion up until recently.

"It likes you." Sasuke jumped, spinning around, his sword arm automatically moving down to skim the ground. It was the perfect position so that it would seem as if his guard was down, but in reality, a flick of Sasuke's wrist would bring the sword point against any attackers midriff in an instant. It had taken months to perfect.

Before him was a man, forty or fifty years old, with salt and pepper hair that traveled down his cheeks into a moustache. He was looking at Sasuke calmly, his eyes hidden behind a pair of spectacles that were slid slightly down the bridge of his nose. He gave Sasuke a smile.

"And you obviously like it." Sasuke didn't allow himself to relax just yet, but he did drop his fighting stance for a slightly more comfortable one, deducting that this man wasn't going to immediately harm him.

"Sento Rakusha." He said and held out a hand. Sasuke looked at it, but didn't move to take it in anyway. "Sasuke Uchiha." He replied dryly.

The man dropped his hand, seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to take it anytime soon. "Well, Sasuke, I haven't seen you around here. New?" Sasuke gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his head.

"My friends and I just moved here." He said, and then stopped, not bothering to elaborate. He could see the man getting irritated at the lack of response he was getting, but that was just fine.

"That's a fine sword you have there." Sento said, trying a different tactic. Sasuke nodded. He knew very well what kind of sword it was. "It seems that you know how to use it." Another nod. The man sighed.

"I realize I am intruding, but I just wanted to help. It seems like you and your friends do know what you are doing here, even at such a young age. If you are part of the Seiei, I would be happy to assist in any way possible." He said. Warning bells started to flare in Sasuke's head, and his eyes narrowed slightly. But it Sento saw it, he didn't say anything. Just moved off to another aisle.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, look at these senbon… I… found…" the sentence Naruto had had died on her lips as she looked at Sasuke's tightly drawn face. Then her eyes fell to the sword in his hands.

"Looks like your old sword, doesn't it?" Naruto commented. Sasuke looked down at the sword, as it realizing that he was still holding it and nodded absently. Naruto sighed, pissed off at him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" She demanded. Now was as good a time as ever in her mind. If he was going to keep shunning her, she needed answers as to why.

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking…" _about why he knew that Sakura and Naruto were his friends, and who were the Seiei. _He added silently.

"No, I mean seriously. You've been like this for the past two months! Did I piss you off somehow?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gave her a confused look, before realizing. She meant why he had been avoiding lately. His eyes darkened.

"No reason." He said, his voice taking on the quality that said he didn't want to talk about it. He saw Naruto's eyes flash as she registered his tone and obviously blew it off.

"There is a reason, and I need you to tell me why. If I did something, I'm sorry, but at least tell me what I did!" She said, her voice gaining volume. Sasuke's eyes went darker.

"It's nothing."

"It's something if it's affected us! Even Hana has noticed it-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke rammed her into the wall, sheaths clattering against her back and sides.

"Hana. Of course she would notice it, right?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's eyes widened as she took in the genuinely angry look Sasuke was giving her as he spat out Hana's name.

"What is going on with you two?" Sasuke's anger filled eyes closed and his arm loosened, letting Naruto breath easier as Sakura came up.

"Nothing." He said and turned to Sakura. "Naruto and I were just practicing."

Sakura gave him a suspicious look, obviously not believing it for one second. She shrugged, not bothering to pursue it.

"Fine, don't tell me. But save any arguments for when we get to the loft back home." She said and continued on her way.

Naruto rubbed her neck, glaring and trying to shoot daggers at Sasuke through her eyes. Sasuke turned back on her, the furious anger he had had in his eyes before slightly diffused.

"We'll talk about this later." He said. Naruto didn't follow him as he left, sword still in hand, to another section of the store. Something was definitely up, but if Sasuke said they would talk about it later, Naruto was going to make sure they did.

* * *

**Sasuke is slowly losing it... LAWLZ. anywho, I'm thinking of looking for a beta-reader for my stories, because i sure as hell can't edit them myself. (other people's, no problem. My own... NOT. A CHANCE.)**

**If anyone knows of someone who wouldn't mind editing a femNaru story thats slightly wacked out, send me a PM! (or a review... I'd just like to know XD)**

**Also, regarding the Japan scenario, I'm looking for a way to take in a refugee. If you know of anyways to help me find sites on it, I'd be very happy.**

**A tribute to everyone in Japan...**

**Peace. No Flames, but lovely reviews are encouraged!**


	11. Kanjo

**Meh. Sorry i haven't updated in a while. School's been killing me with projects . (not trying to use it as an excuse, it's just true.) **

**I've also had a huge mindblock for the past 2 weeks. It's still there... but i managed to get this chapter out of it X3**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

In the end, Sasuke settled for the sword, if not for it's deadly perfection, then for it's similarity to his last one. Naruto choose a double set of short swords, each one hooked at the tip and flat hilted so they could be stored lying flush together. They were an almost white silver, each about the length of her forearm and hand, with loops of rawhide to wrap around her wrists.

Sakura bought mostly medical supplies, and utility belts. She did indulge herself in a pair of trench knives, much like Asuma's, but instead of being jagged at the edges, they were smooth and fit nicely over her knuckles, pitch black in color. It was a natural instinct for them all to load up on shuriken, kunai, and senbon.

After a quick conference, they had each bought a small handgun, seeing as those were the chosen weapons of choice of the BR.

It was strange, Naruto thought as she held her gun in hand. She brought a hand unconsciously to her still healing shoulder. She was now holding one of the weapons that hurt her so badly. She furrowed her brow. Whenever she held a kunai it didn't feel like this, but she had been cut by those plenty of times, sometimes in even more fatal places than her latest shoulder wound. But somehow, letting the cool metal press icily into the pale of her hand felt… foreign. Naruto wasn't sure she liked it.

"-ruto. Naruto! Earth to Naruto!"

"DOBE."

Naruto was startled out of her thoughts by a smack to the back of her head. Her hands flew to her head in defense, but ended up letting the butt of the gun smack the already tender area.

"Goddammit!" She yelled, leaning forward and glaring menacingly at the gun. Then she turned on Sasuke. "Teme! What the hell was that for?"

Sasuke smirked at her, a hint of glee hidden behind his coal black eyes as he looked down at her, arms folded. Beside him, Sakura had her hands clamped tightly over her mouth, obviously trying not burst out laughing and Sento, who had just cashed them out, was an amused look, a book covering the bottom half of his face.

"We're leaving dobe. Put the pretty gun away now." Sasuke said dryly. Naruto glared at him, before putting it with her short swords in the black opaque bag Sento had given her, grumbling, and followed Sasuke and Sakura out, wondering what the hell was up with Sasuke's attitude changes.

* * *

Naruto's fist hit the wall repeatedly, not caring about the bruises she was gaining on her knuckles. She grit her teeth in frustration, barely noticing the fine white dust that was covering her hands from the beaten down concrete as she pounded away. If Sasuke was going to have a pissy fit, then she was allowed to take anger out on the damn wall.

Her fist hit the wall. He was acting like a girl with his mood swings! It was frustrating, and it felt like when Naruto was first learning chakra manipulation to stand on the water. Everything was unbalanced and tipsy with him. She never knew what was headed her direction next, and it kept her on edge in a way that she didn't like. Her opposite fist landed even harder than before, making a chip of wall fall away.

And what was up with him and Hana? The jerk had barely even talked to Hana, so he had no right to get so angry! And why wouldn't he tell her anything? They were best friends! Naruto let her other fist fly at the wall, hearing a sharp crack as one of the bricks snapped and her center knuckle let itself be known with a painful jab. Naruto pulled back and rubbed it tenderly, glaring at the wall.

It was so unfair! After all they had been through, after everything they had done together, it felt like this new world was pulling them apart. She already didn't see Sakura as much. It felt like she was closer with Akemi now than she was with Naruto, and now that Sasuke was pissed about something that Naruto had obviously done, he was avoiding her like the plague. Sparring with Hana and Whitey was fun occasionally, but it wasn't like she could _talk _to them. Not about the past or about what she was learning here. It was Anbu undercover 101. Make friends with the locals, but don't give away any information. Sasuke knew her, and it felt like there was this giant rift between them now.

Naruto blinked, feeling her eyes burn. She took her uninjured fist and with a cry, slammed it into the broken wall one last time, the thud and shatter of stone sounding muted and far away in her eyes. Her knuckles were hopelessly split from their beating, but why didn't Naruto feel any better? She sank down, shaking lightly and determined not to cry, cradling her fists in her lap.

"Goddamnit Sasuke…" She whispered.

"You called?"

Naruto's head snapped up and she whipped around to see Sasuke leaning back against the stair railing on the opposite side of the room. He had a smirk on his face, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes, which held something dark in them that Naruto couldn't put, a name to.

Naruto stood up, her lips pressed in a tight line before marching over to him furiously. Sasuke stood his ground, not batting an eye at her as she came to a stop a foot away from him.

CRACK.

Sasuke stared in shock at the wall he was now facing before reaching up and gingerly touching the raw skin Naruto had just slapped. He could tell a red mark was already forming there, and his eyes skidded to Naruto's hand where it was still upraised, then down to her eyes, confused.

"Are you… crying?" He raised a hand up and brushed her scarred cheek where a lone tear was slowly dripping down. Naruto slapped his hand away angrily, backing up and scrubbing he face with her arm.

"No!" She yelled. She glared at him again, her eyes slightly puffy. "I'm not!"

Sasuke snorted. "Don't lie-"

"Why not? You seem to be pretty good at it lately." Sasuke recoiled, obviously startled at her poisonous outburst. Then his eyes became dark again.

"I'm not lying about anything," He said in a deadly quiet voice. Naruto gave a mock laugh.

"Oh, sure. And I'm still a Konoha ninja in our old world. Cut the crap Sasuke. You're hiding something and we all know it." Naruto continued maliciously. She looked more hurt by her own words than Sasuke was if her face was anything to judge by.

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Then why won't you tell me what he hell is wrong with you, huh?" Naruto spun on him. It felt like everything was suddenly crashing down on her. He was being so mean. So _selfish._ "Is everything some huge secret you can't tell me? And don't go blaming Hana again, 'cause you barely _look_ at her enough to know her."

"Naruto." Sasuke's eyes turned a dangerous shade of black; the normal sign that Naruto saw as the signal that she had stepped over the line. But it was too late to stop now. She wanted answers, and she intended to get them.

She ignored the warning.

"Give me some answer for Pete's sake! You're alienating me, and it fucking hurts with your stupid attitude, and-"

"Naruto!"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist, jerking her out of her rant and against the wall. Naruto gave a huff as air rushed out of her lungs, and before she could start talking again, Sasuke clamped a hand over her mouth, his eyes a fuming, broiling black and his face livid.

"Shut up, okay? You don't know anything!" Sasuke hissed at her.

That stung. Without thinking, Naruto bit down into Sasuke's palm, harder than she should have. Sasuke yanked his hand away.

"Don't know anything? I know enough to see that your being an insensitive jerk!" She spat at him.

"Fine. You want to know why I'm so pissed? I'm pissed because that bitch and her little sidekick are replacing us, okay? I'm pissed because she's dragging you away from us and I fucking miss it, you got it?" Sasuke yelled. Naruto's eyes widened as she pieced it all together.

"Replacing?" She asked incredulously. "Dragging me away! What am I, some plaything to you? I'm not a fricking toy!"

"I didn't say you were!"

"But you didn't deny it!"

Sasuke looked away again, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. "You were being taken away-"

"By what? You were avoiding me!" Naruto replied loudly.

"I got scared, okay!" He yelled. He stepped up closer to her, towering over he small frame as his chest heaved. Naruto stared, furious but wide-eyed up at him.

"I got scared, that she was going to replace me, and that I couldn't stop it." He was quieter this time.

"Sasuke, she wasn't going to replace me-"

"How should I have known?" Sasuke retorted. He stepped forward again, making Naruto back up so that her back was pressed to the wall. "You… you…" He trailed off and looked at her.

Naruto studied his eyes, as if trying to find an answer there. Why was this torturing him so much? It was such a small matter, that it shouldn't have made a difference. She looked up at him, willing him to continue, but he just returned her gaze, not offering anything.

After a minute, he dropped his gaze down, letting out a breath that seemed to have been holding him down. "I just… I just don't know what I'm doing anymore." The hand that he had leaned on over Naruto's head dropped away.

Naruto gaped at him. Sasuke? Not knowing what to do? He always knew what to do, even if it was a crappy choice! Naruto looked at his slightly dejected looking face, his protective wall of thorns surrounding his mind when she tried to see what he was thinking.

She had always known what Sasuke was thinking about. They hadn't ever even needed words. Not when they were fighting, or on a mission, or eating out with Sakura. Even when they had been dead rivals, hell bent on knocking the other out, there had been a mutual understanding that kept them from outright killing each other. But now, as Naruto tried to map out his expressions, Naruto felt as if she were lost in an ocean with no map.

And then, before she could stop anything, he left. Just like that. Not sparing a glance at her dumbstruck form, or answering the unspoken question that hung in the air. He turned around, stuffed his hands in his pockets and left, his footsteps echoing hollowly down the metal stairs. And for a minute, Naruto's mind went truly blank. She just watched as Sasuke's retreating back disappeared and left her hanging, not even breathing as she stared.

She had just been completely deserted by the one person who knew her. Everything that tied them together had basically just been severed and Naruto couldn't get the gears to click in her head that she wasn't stopping him. Her mind screamed for her to run after him. To stop him and fix things. To go on rewind and stop herself from asking. To go back in time and never accept that stupid mission that landed them all in this.

But it was like her heart had stopped, and no matter what Naruto did, it wasn't going to start up again.

* * *

**Not sure what i was thinking when i wrote this chapter... It's like some sort of badly written, jumbled, rollercoaster of emotional angst...**

**I actually started typing this with the thought that Sasuke and Naruto would kiss in the middle of the argument... then it turned down a darker route. Sorry for leaving you all with a cliffy type thing!**

**This wasn't the best argument I've ever written, but it got the point across. They've all gotten their new weapons now, and i tried to match it to their personalities and to their weapons in the show XD. (I don't blame you if you think I'm sucky at this stuff.)**

**I just realized that this chapter strays completely from the overall problem and goes into the team's problems... -.-' fail.**

**Oh, and the twins you heard about before? Yeah. They actually do have a role in this (a pretty big one), so they should be appearing again soon with a couple youngsters and Hana with Tsuru.**

**Yeah. Ignore all those spoilers.**

**Byee!**


	12. Mondai

**Hey! This is so super late that I'm not even going to think of an excuse! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Gah!" Naruto yelled, throwing her hands up in the air, the door of Sakura's room slamming into the adjacent wall. Sakura looked up with a start from where she was polishing her new weapons on the bed.

"What?" She asked, setting her polishing cloth down.

Naruto began to pace back and forth, and string of words trailing from her mouth likes bubbles one after the other. "First he was all moody, and then when I try and fix it he suddenly blows up with all this 'I can't do it crap,' and 'oh, I don't know what to do' stuff. I mean, hell! Since when has Sasuke not known what to do? I don't know if its as load of bullcrap or if he's trying to say something or which his emotions are so screwy and everything and it makes my head all muddled and-"

"Naruto, stop. Calm down." Sakura said. She scootched over on the bed sheets and shoved her weapons out of the way to pat a clear spot. "Sit here, and explain." Naruto opened her mouth and Sakura held up a hand. "Slowly."

Naruto sat down, folding her hands in her lap and wringing her hands, obviously unable to sit still. She took a huge breath, and looked straight at Sakura.

"I hate Sasuke."

Sakura stared at her. All of that and this was what Naruto wanted to say. Smoothing down her bangs, Sakura sighed. "Is that it?"

"No!" Naruto flopped down on her back. "First, he was all smart-ass like usual, right? And then I asked what his problem was at the store -you saw that right?- And he starts to go on about how Hana is 'stealing me,'" Naruto made air quotes with her fingers for emphasis. "And that I'm abandoning him and shit. And then, when I try to figure out what he means, it gets worse! I swear to god, he has finally lost it. I don't know what the hell his problem is." Naruto took gasped after the long rush of words came to a pause. She held it, and let it out in a huff. She turned her head towards Sakura. "Is it just me, or is he hiding stuff?"

Sakura leaned her head on her fist, trying not to shake her head. Even after all that, Naruto still couldn't fit the pieces together?

"Naruto, maybe you should listen to him-"

"I did listen! And look where it got me! Now, he probably won't ever talk to me again!"

"SHUTTUP. He's just a little jealous."

Naruto gaped at her. "Jealous? Of what? And why couldn't he just say that?" She spluttered. Sakura closed her eyes.

"Maybe you should ask him," She said, which received a prompt snort from Naruto.

"Yeah, cause that did so much good last time." She replied.

"Naruto, will you just forget about what happened? Think about it. We've all been kind of distant lately. That's part of the reason why I brought us to Sento's shop." Sakura tried a simpler, more tactical response than giving hints this time. Naruto looked back to the ceiling, as if thinking hard.

"You know, maybe it's all your fault."

Sakura nearly stopped breathing. "What?" She choked out. Naruto turned back to face her.

"Well it's true! If you had just left things alone, then me and Sasuke wouldn't even be in this fight!"

"If I had left things alone, we wouldn't even know each other anymore!" Sakura snapped out. She had just been trying to do things right, and now Naruto was accusing her of splitting them up?

"We still meet each other at night! There weren't any problems before! You should have just kept your mouth shu-"

"Alright. You're not getting this." Sakura cut her off, trying to keep her temper in check. This wasn't her fight to pick. "We are fixing this problem now." Sakura stood up and grabbed Naruto's wrist in an iron grip and began marching towards the door.

"Hey, let go of me!" Naruto tried to pry Sakura's hand of her own to no avail. Sakura half dragged her to Tsuru's room. She didn't bother to knock before kicking it down.

Tsuru jumped, a shirt half over his head as he spun to the door, the scales that ran the length of his black making a slithering noise at his movement. He took one look at an indignant fox girl and a girl with furiously fluttering wings and made an 'eep' noise.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura demanded. Naruto's eyes popped and her struggling attempts doubled.

Tsuru pointed down the hallway. "He went to the den, but he seemed kind of mad. I wouldn't bother him-" He didn't have time to finish before Sakura had dragged Naruto off in the direction of the den where they had first hidden themselves away.

"Sasuke!" Sakura hollered. A few children in the room skittered away, steering clear of the furious Sakura and her fugitive. Sasuke looked up from his brooding position on the couch. His eyes shifted from Sakura's to Naruto's where they narrowed.

"Stand up." Sakura commanded. Sasuke, knowing better than to mess with her in this mood, did as he was told, albeit reluctantly. "Open the closet."

Sensing where this was going, Sasuke did so, holding it open as Sakura shoved Naruto inside. Naruto gave an indignant cry, her face smacking the back wall. And before Sasuke knew what was happening, Sakura turned on him, spinning him around and shoving him into the closet with Naruto. The door slammed shut with a little click and there was scraping as a chair was pushed under the handle to keep it from opening.

"You two will stay in there until you fix this!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke rubbed his head and didn't say anything, but Naruto gave a muffled sound that sounded like a swear.

"Make sure they don't come out. And tell Mio and Ryo to keep an eye on them so they don't kill each other. I need a quick flight to cool off." Sakura rapped off orders. There were bangs on the wall.

"Already heard you!" Came the call of Mio, her voice holding a laughing tone.

"Camera's on!" Ryo called as well, and, satisfied, Sakura headed for the door.

"Teme, get off. You're sitting on my hand." Naruto mumbled. It was cramped in the closet, and being shut in and locked with a currently pissed off Sasuke was not at the top of her list.

"I will when you get your tail off of my nose." He replied, blowing irritably at her fur. Naruto frowned at him and flicked the tip of her tail underneath his nose in spite. She could feel Sasuke send a glare at her in the darkness.

"Oops." She said sarcastically. "It must have a mind of its own."

She felt Sasuke wiggle around beside her, then gripped the tip of her tail and gave a sharp tug. With a yelp, Naruto jumped, whipping her tail and freed hand away from him and clutching her tail to her body.

"Teme, that hurt!" She whined.

"Dobe."

They lapsed into silence, and Naruto became increasingly aware of the body heat that was radiating off of Sasuke where he leaned against the wall next to her. They came off in waves as he seemed to get more and more agitated with each passing moment.

"Hey, Sasuke?" There was no answer, but he seemed to be listening, so Naruto continued. "What did you mean you didn't know what you were doing?"

Sasuke stiffened and she could feel his arm tense, his tail going rigid instead of continuing its ever-present flickering motion he had adopted. Naruto felt eyes on her through the blackness and knew he was trying to study her.

"I…" He started, then stopped. The awkward air increased when he didn't pick up where he left off, leaving Naruto shifting uncomfortably in the silence.

She glanced at where his face would be and tried waving her hand in front of it. "Hey, Sasuke, you gonna answer-"

Sasuke gripped her wrist, pulled her forward, and suddenly, she felt something soft and warm against her lips. Naruto blinked in surprise, unable to pull away. Her free hand had landed on Sasuke's chest where she could feel his skin beneath the fabric of his shirt.

'_He's kissing me…' _Naruto thought, confused, feeling any other ideas she had fly out of her brain as the rest of her thoughts turned to a jumbled mush. Hesitantly, she kissed him back, only slightly, but she felt Sasuke relax slightly when he recognized it.

And then it was over. Sasuke released her wrist and Naruto plopped back down against the wall, staring straight ahead and trying to collect herself. She felt all warm and tingly, like she wanted to lean against Sasuke and never let him move again.

It was strange.

"That answer your question?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded, then realized that he probably couldn't see her and cleared her throat.

"You just kissed me." Naruto stated. Well, it wasn't what she was going to say, but it was true enough.

Sasuke snorted, muttering to himself quietly.

And then the silence was back, leaving them both to their thoughts. Naruto scratched the tip of her ear, her thoughts still slightly fuzzy.

So, Sasuke was jealous like Sakura had thought, and apparently, he thought that Hana and Whitey were threats? That in itself was weird. And if he felt like… that… then why had he been snapped at her? And why didn't he just say it.

It was really sudden too. There hadn't been anything before and suddenly, it was like someone flipped the switch. And what was funny, was that Naruto hadn't minded the kiss at all. She touched the tips of her fingers to her warms lightly, almost afraid that if she pressed to hard, she wouldn't remember what his kiss had been like. Even as her thoughts cleared, her feelings were still a jumbled mess that made her heart have an erratic, messy beat.

Her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting and she studied him silently. She could faintly see the outline of his figure in the darkness, the way his face was turned to the other wall, the collar of his shirt and the indent where her hand had been. She gulped, remembering the feel of his skin beneath her fingers, and moved her eyes upwards again. She let them trace down the length of his jaw to his chin, Then up to his mouth, pressed into a thin line while he thought, past his straight nose to his carefully furrowed eyebrows and down to the midnight black eyes set beneath them.

He really was handsome, whatever way you looked at it. It was easy to see why girls had always fallen for him. But the thing was, Naruto had never really _noticed_. It was a new thing, and it made the pit of her stomach contract when she thought about it for too long.

"What?" Sasuke turned to her, feeling her eyes on him. Naruto looked away quickly; glad the darkness was covering the blush that was covering her cheeks.

"It's nothing." She muttered. Sasuke's gaze lingered for a second longer, and then returned to its original place on the wall.

And in the awkward silence Naruto found a strange feeling bubbling up to her throat. She didn't say anything, just pressing her lips together tightly and keeping her eyes fixated on the crack of light from under the door.

She didn't know how long they sat there, their shoulders brushing, not saying anything, not acknowledging each other. She wasn't sure if she was more pissed at Sakura for doing this, or grateful for the uneasy silence that surrounded them.

"…think we killed them?" Naruto's ears perked as she heard the familiar sound of Mio's voice through the door, sounding muffled and slightly worried.

"Nah. We couldn't even see them in the dark." Ryo obviously brushed her worries off. "But maybe they passed out…"

There was a squeal and the chair that had been propped beneath the door handle scraped rapidly against the floor and Naruto blinked as a sudden light filled the small room. She quickly shielded her eyes and blinked up at Mio's relieved face, Ryo laughing behind her and clutching his stomach. Mio glared at him.

"You really scared me! It wasn't like they were moving or anything!" She spat at him.

"But-! But your f-face!" He choked out between heaves. He nearly rolled on the ground, his black ears flattened against his head and his tiger striped tail curling itself around his stomach.

Mio crossed her arms over her chest, pouting lightly. "I'm serious you know!" She whined. Naruto tried not to laugh and glanced at Sasuke to see if he thought it was just as amusing as she did.

He was smirking, the corner of his mouth sliding up on his face. Naruto gulped and quickly stood up, ready to bolt out of the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Sasuke move as if to stop her, but his face stopped and his outstretched hand fell back to his side. Without a word, Naruto scurried off to find some sort of hiding place. She just needed to get away from it all for a minute.

* * *

**Yeah... SasuNaru... I'm an idiot -.-'**

**Grrrrrr... Sasuke had jealousy problems... cause he's a dumbass... and i hate him right now... (but i still love him. His character is... MMF!) ... (I'm not a rabid fan girl, i'm just a girl who admits to my issues on the fact that he is uber hot.)**

**ummmm... not sure what that had to do with anything... anyway.**

**I had two choices with this: let Sakura smash Naruto on the head and tell her to figure it out (which would do nothing), or Make Sakura have one of her psycho moments and decide she wanted to fix it herself (which is more Sakura-like and uber funny). Since when did i start using the word uber? That is so weird!**

**Anyway, I chose option two because it straightened some more stuff out, added in details i needed, and made this kiss which I've been DYING to do. (no joke. I was foaming at the mouth. jk jk... I don't do that... normally)**

**Enough about this. Read the fiction 'Purple' by kodak-85. I swear, you won't regret it. Writing is amazing, storyline is great, and emotions are tangible. Heavy yaoi/rape in the first chapter though. Beware. Or, look up 'Heavy in your arms' and 'Girl with one eye' by Florence + the Machine. Amazing songs. I'm listening to them nonstop.**

**Or, you could go camping with me as i wait for the next Teahouse page to come out! Long live Axis and Rhys! Rory is super cute and if you haven'te read this manga you are nuts! WHOOOOOO! TEAHOUSE!**

**I'm off to camp. Come with me at: Teahousecomic . com / comic / HAHAHAHAHAHA 8D**


	13. Kabe

**I got quite a few suggestion on what to put in this chapter when the last one was posted, and i was tempted to take them up. Onlyl problem is that i already had this written out, and it's a key point. Sorry =.=' Thank you for the suggestions! I swear, more SasuNaru will come up later, but in real life, stuff like that doesn't just come crashing down all at once. It's like... little trickles and bits of stuff that feel like a lot when you look at the whole picture.**

**... does that even make sense?**

**never mind. Just read the story.**

* * *

Naruto shivered, her arms wrapped around herself, hiding from the light drizzle that had started out. She had quickly found that privacy in Chiyoki's house was impossible, so settled for going out. She didn't know the city too well yet, but she knew the grid-like pattern it was set in.

She shivered again and cursed Sasuke in her mind. It didn't matter if he had given her his warped version of an apology. She was still mad, and What he had done hadn't helped in the slightest. He was such a bastard.

Naruto turned a corner, looking at all the generic towering buildings. A BR guard hovered over the top of one, his small head peering questioningly over the side, obviously wondering what a civilian was doing out in this type weather. Naruto looked at her feet, hurrying faster as if she was heading towards a dry home. The last thing she needed was to be stopped and recognized as an Unknown. Chiyoki's house was safe, but the streets were fair game.

A sigh escaped her lips as the guard's head disappeared from sight when he walked the opposite direction. Rain sloshed around Naruto's ankles in the flat wide street that seemed devoid of life, soaking the thin shoes she had been provided with. She learned quickly that this city had three weather schedules; Cloudy, Windy, and Rainy. The latter the most frequent. It vaguely reminded Naruto of how Ame felt when she had done Anbu mission in the smaller country.

That was another thing that was strange. He village, which had always been a warm and vivid memory in her thoughts had faded. Now as she looked back, It seemed more like the snapshot of someone else's life that had been shown to her and refused to go away. She already knew that if she could use jutsus here, she wouldn't remember half of them. There were pictures of people… familiar faces that haunted her memories, some clearer than others, like the man with the mask and lopsided hitai-ate, and the quiet girl with long black hair. The followed him, but she couldn't remember names. Only faces.

Naruto skidded to a halt when she almost ran face to face with a wall. Blinking, Naruto looked up at the sheer flat surface of white wall, stained gray by the rain. She had been here with Whitey and Hana, exploring the new territory on a shopping spree once, and there had been BR every few feet, glaring down at citizens as if the were bad meat that came too close to the dinner plate. Now, as Naruto studied the walls, there seemed to be no one here except for her and the ceaseless rain.

Faintly, underneath the layers of raindrops, Naruto heard wailing. Only for a second, then a shout. Her ears twitched, her soaked tail swishing lightly as her face turned to the right, where the noise was coming from.

Naruto's head tipped to the side. Should she go investigate? If it was the BR, and they saw her this close to the wall, she would be in serious trouble. Especially if they found out she wasn't an already registered citizen. But there was definite shouts, some of pain some of anger, and Naruto had never left a situation like that alone before.

Naruto's teeth dug into her lower lip, one canine nicked the inside and filling her mouth with a small tang of iron. She hadn't even thought twice about this sort of thing before. Her face set in a determined look. No matter what this world threw at her, she wasn't going to lose all of herself. Clenching her fists, Naruto strode in the direction of the voices.

They were clearer now. Men, possibly a woman, and someone young. All the men sounded angry, and the child sounded scared. Naruto listened as the voices drifted past her, trying to decipher each one and make out words and phrases to no luck. She moved to the closest building, hugging it like she had been taught, her curiosity growing as she caught snippets of conversation.

"Banme… filthy kid…"

"Don't…!"

"…Chameleon… stupid? Thought that…."

Naruto's ears perked up at the last clip she heard. Chameleon? Where there lots of Chameleons around this part of the city? Ones like Rusu?

"…So near to…"

"I didn't mean too! I swear!"

Now that Naruto was closer, she could see more of the BR huddled around the area, leaning against the walls and studying a scene a few yards away.

"Little shit!" Said from a man. There was a crack and an anguished cry. It sounded like a boys voice.

"Think you can lie to us?" It was a woman's voice this time, icy and sneering. "No Down World filth goes through the gates! If you didn't mean to try, you wouldn't have been so close to the gate near curfew!"

"I-I'm sorr-" Another crack, this one sounded like bone-splitting. Naruto winced as the cry rang out, loud and pain filled. Her head sneaked around the corner she was hiding behind and glanced at the scene.

There were four of them. One female, Three men, al dressed in black with perfectly pointed ears standing alert on their heads. Guns were slung across their backs, long rifles with scope attatched at the top. One of the men was pining down a mewling child who writhed around miserably in the wet street muck. The woman was standing, leering, down at him, her foot was still planted firmly on an awkwardly bent leg. Another man was holding out a gun, the blunt but of it smeared with a drop of blood. Naruto gulped. Bored BR were dangerous BR, and this kid was getting the brunt of it.

"He thinks he's so smart, using petty camoflauge to try and get by." The man with the bloodied gun said. He slipped it into the empty holster on his side and kicked the boy's drenched head. He moaned but didn't move. Now angry, the man leaned down and snatched a fistful of hair, dragging the poor boy's head up at an abnormal angle. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Naruto barely suppressed the squeak she uttered when she saw his face. It was Rusu, but this time a jagged, fresh scar etched his jawline, bruise lining his neck and his face screwed up in pain. Blood ran down his cheek from his temple where the gun had hit him and a black eye seemed to be forming on his left side, swelling and turning colors and making his lid sag.

Naruto's mind whirred. These BR were just looking for fun, something to pass the time, but if they continued at this rate, Rusu would die. His shin looked broken from where Naruto could see the woman grinding her boot into it, grinning as her cried out, and he could have a concussion from the temple gash.

Naruto gulped eyebrows furrowing. Then her eyes lit up. If they wanted fun, she would give them fun. Stepping back a few paces, Naruto cleared her throat.

"Rusu! Rusu, where are- Rusu!" Naruto turned the corner, her face alight when she saw him. It had the desired effect and all heads whipped her way, including a confused looking Rusu's. His eyes widened and mouth opened and Naruto raised her eyebrows quickly, hoping it would send the message. Rusu's mouth snapped shut.

Naruto ran over, looking relieved and crouched on the ground in the middle of the group. "Oh, little brother! I thought you had run off again and look at the trouble you caused these nice people!" Rusu's face became bewildered and the BR didn't seem to know what to make of this. Naruto could feel her body start to shake, the way it did when she felt adrenaline beginning to pump its way through her body in the heat of a moment.

She tilted Rusu's face up by the chin, turning it side to side. "What a mess! What will mother say?" Naruto began to strip her wet shirt off, watched as a BR gaurds face turned away, tinged red, and the one pinning Rusu's jaw dropped. She began to smear the wet cloth over his face. "How do you always get in trouble?" She tsked for emphasis and looked up at the woman BR. "I'm so sorry about this. Every time I turn away, he just… disappears! It's actually sad. I can't seem to figure out how to keep him still." Naruto let the words pour out of her mouth in a nonstop stream, her ears quivering slightly. A few of the BR on the wall were openly staring as she bounced slightly, making her chest bob. Her experience as a guy taught her that when boobs and curves were involved, guys would fall for anything.

Sadly, the trick didn't seem to be working on the female guard. Naruto swallowed the lump in her throat and eased into a different tactic. She turned to the Rusu and tugged at his arm, appearing slow enough not to notice that her cleavage was practically rubbing the man holding him down's face.

"C'mon Rusu, up you go!" She looked back at the woman. "Thank you so much for finding him! You are my savior! I swear, if the BR weren't here, the streets would be running rampant with troublemakers!" Naruto bounced almost giddily and the man holding Rusu down backed off quickly to avoid being smacked in the nose with her chest. The woman eyes her suspiciously.

"We need more of you who have all these smarts! It must have been a hassle to catch him, so only people as strong," She hauled Rusu up. "And as quick," She winked at the Gaurd who had had the gun and watched his face flush all the way down to his neck. "And as… amazing could have found him!" She faced the woman again, beaming from ear to ear.

The woman looked nonplussed. She had the men on her side, but this woman seemed more stubborn and less easily swayed as they were. Naruto let Rusu hold her shirt and marched up to the woman, holding his hand in a tight fist.

"I would love to be one of you! You must know this already, but I heard that a girl getting into the BR is extra hard!" Butt-kissing never hurt anyone, and it might just save her in this situation. "That's why I'd never try. You have to be the best at everything and more! I could never be good enough to get in, and," Naruto leaned closer, almost confidentially. "I actually envy you. I would kill to have your spot!"

At this, the woman seemed to loosen slightly. She leaned on one hip, putting her hand there. "Well, you could still give it a shot." She murmured. Her expression said all business, but her eyes spoke of amusement at the thought of the scatter-brained blonde in front of her trying to become a BR agent.

Naruto made a face that said she was eating up the womans words and nodded enthusiastically. "You think I can? Really?"

The woman's lips curved and she gave a slow node. "Maybe, but you have to hurry home so you don't catch a cold." Naruto showed her fangs in her toothiest, goofiest grin and scooped up a nearly staggering Rusu in her arms. The woman had just provided her with the perfect excuse to escape.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She gave an awkward bow and made a show of trying to act mockly tough, swaggering with her load down the road.

"Make sure that brat stays out of trouble!" The woman called and Naruto nodded, her hand tightening on Rusu's wrist warning him that they weren't out of the fire yet.

"Okay!" She called and turned the corner, keeping up the façade until she knew she was out of eyesight and earshot.

The switch was immediate. One second she had been a giddy teenager sent to find her wayward brother, the next her face had grim determination, her arms holding Rusu in and iron grip and her pace speeding to an easy lope that kept from bouncing him too much.

"Why are you here?" Rusu mumbled. His face was a pasty pale color and he was still holding Naruto's shirt clenched in his fists. Naruto didn't glance down at him, focusing on looking for landmarks that would get her home.

"Don't talk. They could be following us and I can't get caught." She deadpanned. Rusu fell silent and Naruto almost felt bad for chiding a kid, especially one in as much pain as Rusu was. She's had broken legs before, and from experience, she could say that they were not fun.

"Thank you." It was a murmur, barely audible. Naruto looked down and saw his eyes closed and smiled.

She spotted a familiar red sign from a weapons shop and nearly shouted for joy. She knew where she was, and it was only a fifteen minute walk from here to Chiyoki's. Running at this pace, it would only take two minutes, and Naruto grinned wildly. She was almost home, and Rusu was almost safe. Maybe things might actually go her way in this world.

* * *

**Yay! I'm glad this is up X3. It's a jump back into the real plot, and I find it refreshing. Nom nom. **

**Sorry if there are mistakes. It hurts to type because of my new sunburn... (I'm a lobster. It hurts like hell.) I'm really hoping to make my updates much quicker now that I've regained interest in this. Thank god. I was hoping it wouldn't become one of my abandoned stories. Speaking of other stories, a lot of them are on hold as of now, because I'm trying to focus on this one. They aren't officially dead yet, but I'm just not getting ideas for them like I am for this one. Yeah.**

**I'm a crazy rabid writer. Fear me.**

**Song of the week: Bouncing off the Walls - Sugarcult. Look it up, and you'll never regret it. 3**


	14. Kettei

**At long last it's here. Enjoy ^^**

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When Naruto burst through the door topless, with a soaked and bleeding bundle in her arms, face wild and hair sticking up at all angles, Sakura wasn't sure what to expect. She had left them locked in a closet and come back in from flying to find the twins arguing, Sasuke sitting moodily against a wall, ears flattened in anger, and Naruto no where in sight. It wasn't what she had expected, and she wasn't sure if her plan had worked, but Sasuke obviously didn't want to be bothered at the moment.

After being pestered long enough, Sasuke had gone up to the Loft to get out anger. Punching things was the main way he let steam out, and Sakura was happy to let him go to, busying herself with sorting out the twins' problems. Now, nearly two hours later, Naruto had kicked the door down and was screaming for help. She rushed to the kitchen and Sakura caught a glimpse of a familiar face looking drained and smudged.

"Is that Rusu?" She squealed and followed Naruto quickly through the swinging door of the kitchen.

Naruto was shoving cooking ingredients on the floor, letting them clatter on the ground and ignoring shrieks of confusion. She set Rusu on the table tenderly, being extra carefully with his leg that looked snapped at the shin. Sakura looked at all the blood and gore, felt her Medical Ninja training start to kick in, and her fingers itched to grab water, cloth, a needle and splints. Angrily, she swallowed and shoved the urges back down her throat harshly and spun, looking for Akemi.

Is if her name was called, Akemi burst through the doors, looking angry that her kitchen was being destroyed, then she caught sight of Rusu sitting on the table and moaning pathetically and visibly blanched. She rushed forward, feeling for his pulse.

"Where's Chiyoki?" Sakura asked, her wings fluttering nervously. Akemi shook her head.

"I don't know. I think she went downstairs to one of the neighbors." Akemi's face kept getting whiter and whiter. Sakura looked around and spotted one of the curious children, the boy they had first met, Kakesu, by the door.

"Go find Chiyoki baa-chan. 'Kay?" She commanded. He looked up at her with wide, dark blue eyes, nodded his curly head and scurried off.

"He's going into shock. We need some sort of painkiller." Akemi said. Sakura bit her lip. Using a painkiller might help with his leg, but it would also slow his heart rate, and if he was going into shock, his heart could be lowered dangerously. Something like ginger would help to keep his mind off of the pain and fend of severe aftershock. She held her tongue.

Naruto looked at her, pleadingly. She knew from long hours in the field and in war that Akemi needed help and Sakura shook her head curtly. They couldn't risk getting caught and with Sakura's level of medical expertise, it would send off warning bells in anyone's mind. Naruto wrung her hands dejectedly.

"Someone get me water! His head would needs to be cleaned!" Akemi said, fingering the shallow cut. Sakura's inner-self began to scream and rave, _look at his leg! His leg needs attention first! Head wounds bleed a lot, but you can't move without a leg!_

The water came in a bowl and Sakura glanced around for Chiyoki, but only found an increasing number of curious children. She spotted Mio peering in through the doorframe.

"Mio! No children in here." A silent please was added on and Mio looked at her, nodded consent, and voiced her opinion about starting a new computer game she and Ryo had just finished up. Instant reaction and the room was deserted.

"Umm…" Akemi was fumbling, only now turning her attention to the leg. "Splints… splints…" She began casting about the kitchen, running her palm over her ear and smearing a speck of blood onto it at the tip.

Finally, training won out over Sakura's common sense and she rushed forward. Screw Sasuke and his plans of hiding their abilities. This boy needed help and Akemi was floundering like a fish out of water.

She inspected the leg. There was a clean snap on the lower part of the tibia, and probably a fracture on the thin lining of the fibula. Probably only a hairline one, but Rusu must have been in a hell of a lot of pain. The tibia would need to be replaced or it would heal at the wrong angle.

She looked at Naruto. "Find ginger or buckwheat. Something to help with the pain but not to put him to sleep." She commanded. Naruto nodded, looking glad to do something helpful.

She took what looked like Naruto's mangled shirt gently from Rusu's hands, forming it into a makeshift gag and placing it between Rusu's already clenched teeth.

"I need you to hold his head." She said quietly to Akemi. "Make sure he doesn't hit it and give himself a concussion." Akemi's hands were shaking, but she did as she was told and held Rusu's head firmly, keeping it still. Sakura leaned over Rusu's good leg to keep it from lashing out and placed her hands on either side of the break. Naruto had found a root substance, hopefully ginger or arrowroot, and set it on the table before flattening her ears and covering them, her eyes squeezed shut, knowing what was coming next.

Apparently, Rusu still had a sense of what was going on when he felt Sakura's grip tighten. He began to wail, struggling frantically, his knee jamming into Sakura's stomach. She winced and took a gulp of air. Naruto crouched down hands over her ears to block out his screaming.

"Keep him still!" Sakura muttered through gritted teeth. Suddenly, there was a '_thunk'_ and Rusu's body went limp. Sakura used the second and shifted the bone into place, feeling Rusu's body jerk, then go still again. She looked up to see Sasuke rubbing it knuckle, Akemi shaking, and Rusu knocked clean out. She glared at him.

"The point of holding him still is NOT to give him brain damage." She chided. Sasuke shrugged.

"You work better when the victims are unconscious." He replied as if this answered all of her problems. Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes before looking around for something to brace the injured leg. A wooden spoon and what looked like an extra long chopstick were lying on the counter. Sakura worked quickly and efficiently, practice kicking into her hands and her mind taking on the focus she had used in the battlefield; narrow and precise, with no true recognition of the victim.

Naruto had uncurled herself from the ball she had made on the floor and peered up over the corner of the table and Rusu's slightly pained, but lax face. Her blue eyes turned to Sakura who was still working and recognized pure determination. With a grin, Naruto backed out, shivering. Now that her adrenaline high was fading, she was starting to feel the chill of water on her skin and it was making her shiver. Crossing her arms over her chest, Naruto turned to the door and ran face first into a wall.

"Umf!" Naruto stuttered, rubbing her nose and looking up to glare at the wall. Only it wasn't a wall but Sasuke's blank face staring down at her. In an instant, her shivering stopped and her hand froze on her face as thought came rushing back. Naruto's face took on a dark shade of red and she looked away quickly.

"Move, teme. I'm cold." She muttered.

He didn't move, but he didn't stop her as she scooted around him and brushed out the door, her face still flushed.

Internally, Naruto was bashing herself over the head. The entire reason she had left was to figure out how to deal with this, and now that she was facing him, all she could think about was how her fingers felt against his skin, how his mouth moved against hers…

Naruto blinked, realizing she had stopped moving in the center of the hallway. Shaking her head, she began moving forward again, trying to keep her head up, her brows furrowed in concentration. He was taking up all her thoughts even when she didn't want him there. Like now. When she was still thinking about him. Naruto cursed herself and slipped into her room, closing the door absentmindedly behind her.

She barely noticed when a foot propped it open, stopping the handle from clicking closed. Naruto picked up a shirt off the ground, sniffing it to see if it was still wearable. Deciding it wasn't too rank, she pulled it over her head.

"Ehem."

Naruto peered out through the whole her head wasn't quite through, blinking at Sasuke as he stood in the doorway, arms crossed, leaning against the frame. Her face flushed again as she realized he had caught her in the act of thinking about him without knowing it.

She turned around so she wasn't facing him and continued to pull on the shirt. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk." He stepped forward so she wouldn't be able to close him out, easing the door closed with his foot.

Naruto pulled the shirt the rest of the way over her small frame, still looking away. "About what?" She asked, trying to draw it out. Of course she knew. She wasn't _that _stupid. She just didn't want to deal with it when her thoughts were more jumbled than usual.

"About before." Sasuke said dryly. He knew she was stalling and was not pleased with it. Naruto blinked, finding her throat was suddenly very dry. The door clicked to a solid shut, and Sasuke took another step forward.

"We really don't need to talk about this-" Naruto made to move away but Sasuke caught her arm, pulling her back dangerously close to him.

"Yes, we do."

Naruto gulped, torn between trying to go find refuge in someone like Hana's room, knowing it would piss him off, but give her a place to hide, or staying and listening. She gulped and decided on the previous.

"Uh… I think someone's calling, my name. Got to go!" Naruto pulled her arm free and darted around him, aiming for the door.

She didn't make it, as she half already knew she wouldn't. Sasuke pinned her to the wall, one hand on either side of her head, leaning close enough that she couldn't slip away without ramming her head into his. He stared at her, hard, and Naruto glared right back at him. He wouldn't humiliate her.

Without any warning, he did it again. One moment they were having a staring contest, and the next, his head was tilted, his lips mashed against hers, the back of her head pressed into the wall. Naruto blinked in surprise, watching as his eyes slid down to half-mast before letting her own fall shut of their own accord. He tasted strange… Not unpleasant, just strange. Like ash and cinnamon mixed together with bits of electricity. Or what she thought electricity should taste like. It was… nice.

He didn't do anything else. Didn't move closer, but didn't pull away. He just kissed her, their mouths moving together in synch. She wondered briefly what she tasted like to him, before the thought flew from her mind when their mouths parted just the slightest bit against each other, breaths mingling.

It was like a switch was flipped. One moment, he seemed afraid to touch her, like it would break the sweet illusion of being this close, and then he seemed to really _want _her. He pushed against her, their bodies being forced together in a way that made them fit like puzzle pieces, and she found her arms rising up involuntarily to wrap around his neck, pulling him down closer. His hands tugged at the ends of her hair, their mouths opening wider so that their tongues rubbed against each other. It was new and strange, and Naruto couldn't get the nagging feeling of not being quite in control to stop bothering her.

And then he was gone. He just pulled back, eyes wide and facing downward, looking anywhere but her and seeming just as surprised as she felt. His eyes flickered up and she saw a quick flit of some strange emotion cross his face before disappearing underneath a turmoil of other thoughts.

Naruto brushed a finger across her lips, feeling them bruised and moist beneath her fingertips, the memory of his hands at the ends of her hair and skimming across the top of her back lingering. She looked him up and down. He just seemed confused and puzzled. Naruto found a funny longing and emptiness pursuing her.

There was a knock on the door and Naruto and Sasuke snapped out of their daze, Sasuke at least trying to seem alert. The door opened and Sakura looked through, seeming slightly suspicious. She eyed Naruto as the girl struggled to pull herself up from the recesses of her mind, and Sasuke who had snapped his mask back into place with a flick of his fingers.

"Aaaanyway… Rusu's sleeping in the twins' room for now, in case you wanted to know." She said, coming in and plopping herself on Naruto's bed, dismissing their odd behavior and stretching her wings out to full expansion on the bed. In total, they were ten in a half feet long. "I think we should call a meeting." Naruto blinked then sat down on the bed next to her, leaning back on her palms. Sakura was being bothered by something if she wanted to call a meeting this quickly. Sasuke closed the door again, this time sure to lock it.

"Why? What's wrong?" Naruto asked. Beneath Sakura's faked confidence, there was a slight shakiness permeating from her.

"Chiyoki knows." She said. "We obviously can't stay here anymore. Everyone will be figuring it out soon." She folded her hands in her laps, twisting them in the way she used to when she was worried about something.

"Where will we go? We can't split up." Naruto said. Splitting up would mean the end of team seven. The end of every connection they had had in their past life. They had to stick to each other's sides no matter what.

"I'm not sure, but since this is the Sado ring, it shouldn't be hard to disappear. Maybe we could even try to get into the Banme ring with the Middays…" Sakura mused, trying to think critically through her mounting panic. Naruto ran her tongue across her bottom lip.

"I don't know… The wall was pretty closely guarded. That's how Rusu got hurt. He was too close to the wall." She pointed out. "There were a lot of BR patrolling."

Sakura looked distraught, her ideas escaping her. Without Chiyoki's protection, the local BR could easily find them. People in town now knew their faces, making hiding close to impossible in a closely-knit city like this, even with all the back alleyways. News traveled fast, good and bad.

"The man."

No one in the room needed a reminder of who 'the man' was, but it seemed strange for Sasuke to randomly bring him up in an argument over housing.

"What about him?" Sakura asked, apparently just as confused with Sasuke's sudden statement as Naruto was. Sasuke looked up from where his eyes had been boring holes in the floor, a smirk growing on his face.

"He said we had to find him, right?" Sasuke said it as a question, meaning it as a statement. "Well where would you hide yourself in, what he would consider, 'A game?'"

Sakura's eyes lit up, piecing things together before Sasuke explained them. "So the man would hide himself in the center of the best security so we couldn't get at him!"

"But what does this have to do with anything?" Naruto asked, wondering what figuring out what The Man's motive was, and a new place to live in while staying undercover connected.

"Because if you saw all the BR guarding the wall, then they had to be guarding something." Sasuke said simply. "What could be behind those walls that they can't let anyone from this area get at?"

"You think that that asshole has locked himself up somewhere in the city's center?" Naruto asked skeptically. Sasuke blinked at her, expressionless, but Sakura was nearly beaming.

"This is great!" She squeaked. "Well, not great in knowing that some creepy scientist guy is living right under our noses while we putter away in Chiyoki's house, but great that we know where he is!"

"Might be." Sasuke corrected. Sakura ignored him. The prospect of finding much needed answers was set in front of her, and she clung to it.

"We need to get to him and figure out how to get back to Konoha!" She exclaimed, jumping up in her frenzy.

Naruto blinked at her. Go back to Konoha? She hadn't really put much thought to it. When they had ended up here, then found their way to Chiyoki's everything had seemed fine. She was surrounded by people who looked up to her; children who she taught little fighting skills too. Ones who ran at the sight of Sasuke, giggling furiously like she had taught them. Ones who would laugh when Sakura smiled and slipped them bits of food before mealtime. The twins, Ryo and Mio, genius, devilish, and mischievous. Hana, dark, sympathetic and hidden. So much like Sasuke. Whitey with distrust but respect in his eyes. Chiyoki, old, wrinkled, kind, and an ever-omniscient presence.

Sasuke. Naruto spared him a glance. His lips were pursed in thought, not saying anything. Naruto felt coils of uncertainty wind up in her stomach. If they hadn't come her, and she hadn't ended up as a girl, Sasuke might never have kissed her. She studied his darkened eyes, half covered by overgrown bangs. She would never have known what it was like to be so close, locked together in something other than battle.

In Konoha, when she was a boy, he was looked at as an idol. Someone who had unimaginable strength and laughter, the next in line for Hokage. He was regarded with suspect, but underneath it all, there was still the ounce of mistrust that lined the elders' gazes. Young shinobi were wary, confused even, as to what to make of the man who smiled and laughed, but held a demon in his stomach, and enough power to rival the legendary Sannin.

Suddenly, Naruto didn't like the idea of returning to Konoha all that much.

Sakura seemed to sense the reluctance. "What?" She asked, looking between the two of them. "What's wrong?"

Naruto hesitated, trying to figure out how to make Sakura feel what she was feeling. She raised her blue eyes to meet jade ones. "What about Suki?"

Naruto saw Sakura's mind fly to the small bird girl, all dark red hair and flushed pale cheeks, glancing up at Sakura with mother-like adorance. Naruto knew Sakura loved her, and the girl would be heartbroken if they just up and left. Sakura's eyes shifted, sudden uncertainty overcastting the joy that had previously filled her gaze. Her lip trembled before it set in a line.

"Losses have to be made." She said. Naruto felt her heart crash to her stomach. They had made a pact to stick together here, and if she and Sakura were against each other, it could tear them apart. She looked to Sasuke appealingly, hoping he would make her see.

He was still silent, his eyes unfocused, his mask set firmly in place. Finally he looked up, but not at either of the girls.

"We'll go find him." He said. Naruto's jaw dropped. He was ready to just… let go of this place too? She gaped, looking between him and Sakura, but Sasuke apparently wasn't finished. "But we can't go back to Konoha."

"What?" Naruto and Sakura both chorused. Sasuke's hands shoved themselves into his pockets.

"The goal, he said, is to get to him and kill him. If we kill him, we'll stay here. If he kills us, who knows where we'll go next? We were already sent here, and probably to Konoha if he really is sending us in loops." His logic was perfect. Already thought our and spoken in a monotonous voice, as if he didn't care one way or the other. The way he spoke was strangely reminiscent of the way he was after just coming back to Konoha; it meant he was completely torn.

Sakura sat back down on the bed with a thud, deflated. She gave a nod of consent, understanding what he was getting at. Naruto wanted to stand up and scream. This wasn't fair. Just because they knew where he was didn't mean they had to commit to a death sentence, here of with him. She opened her mouth, a sound forming in her throat where it choked and died, leaving an uncomfortable knot. Without a word, she curled her tail in her lap, smoothed tufts of fur, and nodded desolately.

Sasuke gave his own nod. "Good. We'll leave at the end of the week."

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**Decisions, decisions. Always so difficult. So, a bit of everything in here. Angst, Sadness, Longing, confusion, stress. Now things are really moving. I'm thinking this will be around 20-25 chapters long, but I'm not sure. Might be longer. There's definitely going to be an epilogue. Ah well.**

**I think this is one of my longest chapters... since i normally do short ones, it was a bit strange. I have been trying to make them longer, but 2,500 words was usually when i ended it... this easily reached 3,400. lol. I guess it's good ^.^**

**This was strangly hard to write... I had all the ideas sitting in my head, just floating on the surface, but try as hard as I might, I couldn't type it, or everytime i was on a roll, someone would pop in and scold me for 'having fun when i shouldn't have time for it.' Grrrrr...**

**Well, yeah. I hate Sakura. She's making things difficult. But she's good to work with, because i need her personality in here to work with, you know? She's got a good writers character. Only reason I'm using her.**

**Oh, and for those of you who use the metric system, ten and a half feet (10'6'') is 3.20 meters (320 cm)**

**Songs listened to while writing this:**

**Liar- One Ok Rock**

**Numb (H320 dubstep remix)**

**Careful- Paramore**

**Born this Way- Lady Gaga (i laughed at myself when i realized that i was listening to Lady Gaga voluntarily. I love her as a person, but her music isn't exactly my style XD)**


	15. Shikiso

**Exams done... I survived... 100 on the english exam ^^ not the time for boasting though... READ.**

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In a way, it was sort of a relief to know what direction they were going in. For nearly two months now, Team seven had been floundering around, unsure of what to do or how to quite adapt to this new world. Naruto wasn't even sure if she could still call them 'Team Seven.' Their whole being of that team; the missions, the duties, the paycheck, the place on the Anbu, it was now gone. Did that still make them a team?

Naruto leaned her forehead against the side of the shower stall, feeling lukewarm water drip slowly down her back. They still needed to figure out how to get past the first ring of walls without getting spotted. More importantly, they needed to figure out how to get the cards that made them seem like they belonged. Using Chiyoki's cards was useful here where she had an influence, but Naruto doubted that influence reached beyond Sado. They'd need to change their appearance, but that wouldn't be too hard. Blending was near second nature now, especially with all their practice. It was just figuring out how to get around the BR…

"Hurry up Naruto!" Sakura banged on the door with a thump and Naruto nearly jumped out of her own skin. She tipped her head up to rinse it one more time, then shut the water off, wrapping herself in a towel before Sakura burst through the door.

"Hang on! You know I like long showers!" Naruto yelled back. There was a 'humph' and more banging until Naruto threw open the door.

Sakura waved away steam with one hand, her own toiletries in the other. She glanced at Naruto up and down once before shoving the smaller girl out of the way, ignoring her protests.

"H-hey!" Naruto yelped as she was pushed out into the frigid air. Then Sakura had slammed the door in her face, leaving Naruto shivering and wet. With an indignant stamp, Naruto tried to glare a hole through the door. "Thank you for being oh so considerate!" She yelled and was replied to with a laugh from Sakura. Naruto swore at her.

She peered around the corners, checking to see if the coast was clear. It was one of those rare moments when everyone was occupied with something or other. From the thumps upstairs and the claps and shrieks that resounded, it sounded like either Hana, Sasuke or Whitey were upstairs entertaining the little ones in the loft. It was near lunchtime, so Akemi and Chiyoki would be busy in the kitchen. Shivering, Naruto darted across the hallway, hugging the walls until she reached her room.

Trying to stay warm, Naruto changed quickly, reaching for the brush Sakura had told her she needed and tugged it through the snarls. Long hair was a huge pain. She scraped it away from her scalp, the blonde hair dark from dampness and slowly lightening even as it dripped all over the floorboards. Naruto frowned as the brush got stuck, and a knock was heard at the door.

Muttering about stupid long hair, Naruto marched to the door swinging it open with her free hand to see Sasuke.

"What do you want?" She asked. Sasuke snorted at her.

"We need to change appearances. I was going to go get hair dye." He said. Naruto tugged again at her hair, wincing as her fingers got stuck in her hair once again. Sasuke watched her, a slightly amused expression dancing across his features, barely showing beneath a carefully placed mask. Though no one aside from Naruto and Sakura would be able to tell.

"Great. Go along then." She replied and turned back to the mirror, half tempted to get scissors and just chop off her hair right at the shoulders.

She was surprised when instead of receiving a sharp reply, a pair of graceful, long hands replaced her own fumbling ones. Naruto reddened as Sasuke worked through the stubborn tangle, patient and gentle, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I was just going to ask what color you would like." He said gruffly. Naruto grinned. Even when he was having these mushy moments, it was still the same old Sasuke.

"Dunno. What color would look good?" She asked. Black wouldn't, though she could always try. Going lighter had proved to be a bad decision on one of the undercover missions they had been assigned too. She stuck out like an unnaturally colored sore thumb.

Sasuke seemed to contemplate that for a second. He rubbed his fingers through a smooth, wet section of hair as if pondering it, unconsciously letting his finger brush the tip of one of her ears and making her shiver. He shrugged and moved on to another tangle. "Red. Not the bright kind. A brownish, rust colored red." He said.

"Then get the red you think would look good. Did you ask Sakura? Cause she can be seriously picky. She's in the shower now, but I'm pretty sure she'll get out soon." Naruto rubbed her hand across her still damp tail.

"Already asked her." Sasuke replied, his fingers still poking and prodding her hair into submission. Naruto waited for more, which he obviously didn't want to give. She pulled at a piece of fur that stuck up at an awkward angle.

"Have you figured out how we're going to get inside the wall yet?" Naruto asked. "There are BR crawling everywhere, so we can't just waltz right in. We need a better plan."

"I'm working on it."

Naruto looked up at the lidded black eyes in surprise. He was going to have them leave at the end of the week with no plan as to how to get there?

"Don't give me that look." Sasuke said. He let her now smooth, tangle free hair fall across her back. "I'm going to go get the dyes."

Sasuke moved to leave and Naruto ran her fingers across her forehead, swiping away a drop of water. "Oh, while you're there, want to pick me up something?" Sasuke looked back at her, eyebrow raised in question. "I'm hungry. So get me something sweet. Non-expensive." Sasuke raised his hand in compliance and slipped through the door.

Naruto sighed, not sure what to do with herself and the lack of entertainment at the moment. She sniffed the air and her ears perked up, and she sneaked out towards the door. When in doubt, look for food.

Down the hallway, Naruto could hear Sakura singing (badly) in the shower. Naruto skirted past a few open doorways, though most of them were shut, and made her way to the kitchen where an oh-so-loving smell was begging to be eaten. She peeked inside spotting Akemi looking slightly worried and fiercely determined as she poured noodles into a strainer, then turned to the huge pot on the stove, stirring it and sending a wave of the delicious smell wafting towards Naruto. Naruto's stomach growled threateningly.

Akemi looked up, one soft lamb's ear twitching lightly next to her head. Seeing it was only Naruto, she looked back at her creation, obviously trying to ignore the other girl.

Naruto inched forward, sliding cautiously into a chair at the counter; Akemi's eyes flickered up. "If you're looking for Rusu, he's down the hall next to the twins." She replied, then jumped as a sudden spit of the pot sent a drop of scalding water to her hand. Her brows furrowed, and Naruto noticed a slight divot above her left eyebrow. Probably a birthmark or scar.

Naruto's stomach growled again. This time Akemi's gaze didn't even flicker away from her concoction.

"You're not getting any until dinner." She deadpanned. Naruto's sandy blonde ears flattened, a pout puffing out her lip.

"That's not fair! I couldn't even ask yet!" She whined. Akemi continued with her work, still ignoring Naruto. Naruto crossed her arms and sat down on the stool, glaring hungrily at the pot and at the noodles that steamed silently from the strainer in the sink.

Sakura walked in, rubbing a white towel across the back of her neck and underneath her pink hair. It had grown longer, now brushing her shoulders instead of hanging neatly beneath her ears. She looked at Naruto who was staring at the food Akemi was preparing with wide-saucer plate eyes, and Akemi who was steadily ignoring her and snorted.

"She's not going to give you any." She said. Naruto turned watery blue eyes to her.

"But I'm _hungry_….." as if to prove it, Naruto's stomach growled. Sakura let out a short laugh.

"Then wait for dinner." She said. Naruto pouted childishly from her spot on the stool. "I think I'm gonna take a quick flight." She mused, smoothing out moist feathers, then ruffling them to shoo away some of the water.

Neither of the other two girls in the kitchen said anything. Sakura rolled her jade colored eyes and left, letting the kitchen door swing closed behind her. She disposed of the soggy towel in one of the dirty laundry hampers set up along the hallway near the front door and began to pound her way up the flight of stairs that led to the roof.

Chiyoki owned the top two floors of the nine-story gray stone building. After Sakura had figured out the logistics of flying (from the younger kids, too), the rooftop had become a favorite place of hers. She had quickly discovered a strange fear she hadn't had before of closed spaces which she wrote off as a side effect of her new Dove Anima.

Sakura flung open the top door and it swung open on squeaky hinges, pushed by the ever-present wind that ran across the rooftops around this area. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore some of the smog that permeated the place and spread her wings, letting the door shut behind her. Almost immediately, the breeze caught in the tawny feathers, tugging her. It was a strange feeling, one that took Sakura a while to get used to. The feeling of feather light bones attached to her shoulder blades, tugging and folding where ever she went. It seemed all of her bones had gained the hollowed-out effect. She was light, and flying wasn't as hard as it first seemed, coming almost naturally to her.

Sakura stepped forward, the wing drying water droplets on her skin as her toes curled over the edge of the roof. She was still barefoot, and flying with the loose shirt she was wearing, probably wasn't the best idea, seeing as she would flash anyone who chose to look up at that moment, but she felt a wonderful tug at her wings that was more than just the wind. She spread her wings out completely, feeling the tips of her feathers bend. Closing her eyes, Sakura let her body tip forward.

There was that split second of freefall, wind pulling at the roots of her hair, the air being sucked from her lungs, her wings tucked painfully close to her sides until, with one giant whoosh, the snapped open. In a second, the filled like sails, catching the wind as she found the updraft, riding it up high above the buildings, watching as people glanced up when her shadow drifted over them. It wasn't an unusual sight around here, but it still earned her a few looks when she gave an unexpected twirl. It had taken her two weeks to learn how to spin. Pull wings in, let the tip pinion feather's guide her as she twirled, and there was an amazing corkscrew feeling as her stomach raced up to her heart and stars burst in her eyes.

She loved it.

Relaxing into normal flight, Sakura guided her pathway up higher into the sky. The whole city was surrounded by a semi-opaque dome casting the place in a grayish white hue. A second dome separated the Banme and Sado ring, keeping flyers like her from crossing over accidentally.

_Or intentionally, _Sakura thought as she flew a bit too close to the separating wall and a testy BR guard hollered at her. She called an apology and adjusted her flight to spin away. She looked down at the people crawling and bustling around the streets. A few blocks away, the area was empty as a patrol skirted the area, men and women fleeing to avoid the guards. Sakura saw a girl caught too close to their huge armored car get smacked away with a baton. She winced and wheeled the other way. They would hit anyone who was too close on the ground. In the air, they would just shoot her down.

The people down below looked strange. Too colorful compared to the white, grey and black towering buildings around them. It was pretty in a lopsided way. Sakura glanced back at the wall, wondering what it would look like when they were over there. All she had was a week to figure out how they would blend in, with no grounds of assumption to work with.

Sakura smoothed her now dry and windblown hair, and began to head back. She had only needed a short flight, and Sasuke would probably be back with the supplies by now. She smiled at another flyer, a tall lanky boy with pitch-black wings and he gave her a curt nod before she spun around the last corner to Chiyoki's building. Two steps and she was landed and smoothing down her hair before tromping down the stairs into the main floor of Chiyoki's complex.

She found Naruto lounging in the Den, her legs over the arm of a chair as she slouched, licking something that looked sticky and sweet from her hands. Her blue eyes flicked up at Sakura.

"Nice hair." She commented, giving a toothy grin. Sakura made a face and attempted to smooth it down again.

"Where's Sasuke?" She asked.

Something unrecognizable flickered over Naruto's face and she tugged at the side of her shaggy fringe before shrugging and continuing eating. "Don't know. Being moody somewhere in the house." She said plainly.

Sakura thought to press the matter more, but instead let it roll off her back. If Sasuke and Naruto were going to be awkward with each other, she was going to leave it along. She had done what she could to help, and she didn't need to do it again. Without another word, Sakura left in search of Sasuke.

A quick check showed that he wasn't in his room, or up in the loft. Sakura sighed and peered in Naruto's room. Slim chance, but still a possibility. Too bad it was empty.

Suddenly, there was a loud curse and a thump. Smiling, Sakura headed to the bathroom where she found Sasuke sitting on the floor, rubbing his head and cursing at the wet towel on the floor that Naruto had presumably left from her shower earlier. Sakura leaned against the doorframe, arms folded and watched him grimace and glare at a plastic bag full of dyes.

"So. How'd it go?" She asked. Sasuke pulled himself up and handed her the bag, letting her peek at the contents. It looked like he had gotten different colors of Henna and skin dye, and four different hair dyes, two in a reddish brown color. Sakura picked up one of the packages.

"Why-"

"For Naruto. She has long hair. Might need two boxes." Sasuke cut her off, still rubbing his head. Sakura nodded. Red might look good on her. She picked up one of the other colors, eyeing it suspiciously.

"You got yourself… more black?" She asked skeptically and held it out to him. He sent her a condescending look.

"It's a blue black. It'll offset it enough. Besides, it's the only thing that would look natural. Could you see me as a blonde?" He asked dryly and took the box from her.

Sakura stared at him for a second, then silently covered her mouth, her face turning red as she held back a laugh. She shook her head lightly, face getting redder by the second. Sasuke scowled at her darkly, velvet ears flattened, and focused on the dye package he was holding.

Sakura let out a little snort, trying to hold it down. She knew Sasuke hated being laughed at, but him… as a blonde… oh my god… Sakura found herself nearly doubling over with suppressed laughter. She heard Sasuke tearing at the package viciously.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She tried to amend, her eyes watering as she straightened. She was going to have to remember the Sasuke being blonde quip. Sasuke ignored her and began to read the instructions over. Sakura watched him as he mixed chemicals together and shook bottles.

"Why do you keep messing it up?" She asked suddenly. Sasuke paused, his back stiffening and the unconscious twitching to his tail halting for a second, before starting up in a slightly mechanical way.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play stupid." Sakura snapped. She sighed and pinched her nose. "You know Naruto is too thick-headed to move things forward. She's probably muddled about this."

Sasuke's lips pursed and he looked at himself in the mirror and began applying dye.

"I don't know what you did this time, but with the effort I put into getting you two into a closet-"

"An unwanted effort."

"-There had better be results." Sakura blew off his comment. They'd needed a push. She just hadn't expected him to mess it up so quickly. Out of the two of them, she'd thought Naruto would botch it up, but now it seemed like Sasuke was making the mess. "You're going to fix this. Even if I have to kick your ass into doing it."

Sasuke didn't reply, intently focused on thoroughly soaking his already black hair in darker (blue) black dye. Sakura measured him movements for a second, then threw her hands in the air, exasperated.

"Fine. Be a pig. I'm not helping this time, and it's only gonna keep weighing you down." She spun on her heel and whisked herself down the hallway. If he was going to be stubborn about this, she wasn't going to try and help.

Sakura shut the door behind her in her room and moved to sit on the bed, looking down at her own package of hair dye, looking at the girl with ashy, light brown hair on the cover, giving the photographer a coy look, her ears titled adorable to match the flow of her hair. Sakura fingered a piece of her own light pink hair, wondering if she would miss it. She flopped over and looked at the ceiling. Six more days to put together a plan. A plan that would hopefully, just hopefully, get her home.

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**I'm really sorry if this has unbearable typos... I don't have a beta reader (though i want one) and this was such a hassle to write I just... uploaded it. I'm an irresponsible writer T^T **

**Trying to get more of their personalities in instead of keeping the OOC... which i tend to do... sorry... Sakura's annoying me. She just is. Sasuke's being stubborn and Naruto's an idiot. As always. TADA! This chapter was so hard to write for some reason... I'd write two paragraphs, then stop. Then two days later I'd say "Hey, i should really finish this chapter!" Write two paragraphs, then stop.**

**Hence with this took so long. Added with the exams and all that shibang... didn't fail any. I was sure my Math was going to be horrible... **

**Masterpiece Theatre 3 - Marianas Trench. Look it up. Worship it. Learn how to live.**

******I need YogenFrüz.**


	16. TEMPORARY CHAPTER

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

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The Dark Graven

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-patterns-at-dusk-

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If you could do what some other authors have done and post this petition as a temporary new chapter on some of your stories to help spreed the word? It would help a lot it's how I found out about this.

change petitions/ fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net#

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PS, messaged to all of my readers, my lack of activity of late is due to some computer difficulties... I'll be transferring all files to my new computer and I should be up and writing stories again by about midsummer. For now though, SUPPORT THE PETITION!


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